A Light in the Darkness
by Mia June
Summary: Daryl x Connie (Donnie) romance / Daryl is living alone in the woods, still devastated about losing Rick as he encounters a group of people: Connie, Kelly, Luke, Magna and Yumiko / Daryl is fascinated by Connie and Connie finds out that the rough-edged Daryl has actually a good heart / I'm not a native speaker / I do not own The Walking Dead and the characters within.
1. Chapter 1 - Rainy Day

It was raining when Daryl woke up. As he looked outside his tent, the cold wind was blowing raindrops into his face. It was one of those days when getting up was even harder to do. Daryl didn't know how much time had passed. It could have been weeks, months or even years. He didn't care much about time. Every day was very similar to the day before. He hadn't been to Hilltop, the Kingdom or Alexandria for a long time, because he thought people there didn't need him anymore. And he could find everything he needed in the woods. The silence and solitude became his best friends.

Daryl got up and ate the rests of the stew he had made the day before. He ate quickly, hardly chewing the food, since eating was nothing he really enjoyed. It was just a habit. Like breathing, fighting walkers and searching for the body of his dead friend. Rick was like a brother to him and Daryl gave himself the promise, he would find his body, so they could bury him. It was the only thing he could do, since he wasn't able to safe him. Michonne helped him too, as long as she could, being pregnant, but after the incident with the kids and after her giving birth to RJ, she wasn't out there with him anymore. Life went on for her, for everyone, but not for Daryl. For him it always stayed the same. He had searched every corner for Rick's body already as the years passed by and still he went out with the same goal every day.

After quickly checking his traps, where he caught only one walker, Daryl went on, searching for Rick. He went to the broken bridge, watched the muddy water under it rushing by, and he saw pictures of the day when he lost Rick before his inner eye. So much time had passed since then and still Daryl could see him standing on the bridge, firing his gun and in the next moment he was just gone. Swallowed by the explosion. Faded away. Forever.

As Daryl continued his way, he remembered how Rick called him his brother. Daryl always felt that way about him too, but he never told him that. And he regretted it more than ever now. Daryl's thoughts went on to his other friends and to the times back in the day when they were all together. He missed those times. He felt good back then, he felt like they needed him, like he was useful for them. But they were all living in different communities now and had their own lives, some even had their own little families. Daryl didn't feel like he fit in anywhere. Carol offered him to stay at the Kingdom, Maggie said, she would be glad, if he stayed at Hilltop and Michonne was happy to have him at Alexandria. But still, being at one of those places made him feel like his heart was torn apart. None of the places felt like home and he didn't have a purpose there. Being in the woods gave him at least a little purpose and even though he didn't find Rick yet, he had a reason to get up every day.

Daryl heard walker sounds and hid behind a tree. He hit a walker, which was approaching him, with his crossbow and shot another one. He put a new bolt into his crossbow as a third walker came to him. Daryl was too slow and the walker almost got him. Daryl had to do a couple of steps back and was standing on the edge of a small hill now. Suddenly the wet, muddy ground gave away under Daryl's feet and he slipped backwards, rolling down the hill. He landed with his face in a puddle, getting some of the dirty water in his mouth. He got on his knees and spit the water out. As he reached a hand out to his crossbow, something hit his back. A walker landed on him and Daryl tried hard to get rid of it. He rolled on his back and tried to reach a stone lying next to him, but then the walker was above him again and he heard its snapping teeth close to his ear while the smell of rotten flesh got into his nose. It took Daryl all his power to hold the walker away from his body, so it wouldn't bite him. Finally Daryl was able to grab the stone and hit the walker's head again and again. As it let go of him, he pushed it to the side. He knelt above the walker and smashed its skull with the stone. Then Daryl fell on the ground catching his breath. It was a close call and it's been a while since he had been in such a danger. He was lying on the ground while the cold raindrops were falling on his face. But why all the effort? Maybe he should just stop fighting. Let the walker bite him and then... And then what? Die here alone?

"Stop being such a pussy." That's what Merle would have told him, if he would have known that Daryl was having thoughts like that. And that's what Daryl told himself. He got up and took his crossbow, but couldn't find the bag with the bolts he made the day before. He searched everywhere but it was gone.

"What a great day," Daryl thought.

He went back to the camp, encountering some walkers which he killed with his knives. He kept the only bolt he had in his crossbow, for the case of emergency. When he walked back to his camp his head was hurting and he also had a sore throat. The day was really getting better and better. He couldn't wait to get back to the camp and warm up a bit. Sure it was too wet to start a fire, but at least he had some blankets in his tent. He also had a big can of soup left, so he wouldn't have to go hunting to find something for dinner. As he approached his camp he heard rustling sounds coming from it. Did some walkers find a way in, despite his traps? Or was it maybe an animal? Daryl put his crossbow up while he was silently coming closer. He saw a silhouette searching his tent. When the person got out of the tent, Daryl saw that it was a woman. She was on her knees with her back to Daryl and Daryl saw that she was holding his can of soup in her hand.

"Hey, put that down!" Daryl shouted, still pointing at her with his crossbow. But she didn't turn to him. She didn't even react at his shouting. Daryl was surprised, but also annoyed that someone was intruding his place. And this person even had the nerve to ignore him.

"Hey, you hear me?!" Daryl shouted again a little louder and approached her.

She turned around and backed away from him in surprise as she saw him, like she hadn't been aware of his presence until that moment. Daryl was confused and something in that woman's eyes made him stop and stare at her for a moment. She had dark, thoughtful eyes and black curls, which framed her beautiful face. Her full lips were closed as she was looking at Daryl. He was almost fascinated by the fact that there wasn't the slightest sign of fear in her eyes. She was just starring back at him with the can of soup in her hand.

"That's mine," Daryl murmured and his voice sounded softer this time.


	2. Chapter 2 - Stranger

Connie was starring into the blue eyes of the man who was aiming at her with his crossbow. He had long filthy hair and he was wearing a cape. His body and face were covered in mud. She stared at him, analyzing him and trying to find out if he was someone dangerous. Despite his strange looks there was something in his eyes, that made Connie think, he didn't want to harm her.

Earlier this day Connie and her friends were running from the dead. The rain was a problem and made it harder for them to escape. They were exhausted and hungry, since they didn't find something to eat for a long time. They were searching for a shelter, when Connie suddenly lost her group and found herself alone. She was running through the woods, without orientation, unable to call for them. As she came across a camp, she thought it was abandoned. Nothing pointed to the fact that a person was living there. Everything was messy and it looked like nobody was there for a long time. She didn't find much there either. She was thinking about taking the tent, as she saw the can of soup lying there. It looked good and it was at least something. When she got up and turned around, she was startled for a moment when she saw a man standing there and aiming at her with his crossbow. Her murmured something, but Connie wasn't able to read his lips.

Her heart was beating fast as they were starring at each other for a couple of moments until the man suddenly turned his head in another direction. He must have heard something. Connie turned her head too and was relieved to see her friends there. The stranger pointed his crossbow at them and so they stopped. Connie could see that Magna and Yumiko were both supporting Kelly who had one foot lifted in the air. She must have been hurt. Ignoring the man, Connie ran to her sister. The man must have been shouting something, since Connie noticed Magna telling him: "She's deaf, you moron."

"Hey, watch your mouth," the stranger answered her.

Connie signed to Kelly: "What happened?"

"I don't know, I stepped into something," Kelly answered.

"We have to patch her up before she gets an infection," Yumiko said.

They made Kelly sit down on a three stump while Yumiko got out some bandages out of her bag.

The stranger wanted to protest and Connie could already see how Magna wanted to walk to him. Somehow they both seemed to have the same hotheaded spirit. Connie held her back, looking at Luke who was always the diplomatic voice of their group. He nodded and then he spoke to the stranger:

"Listen, I know you don't want us here and I'm sorry for intruding your... um... home. But the girl here is hurt. We'll patch her up and then we're gone, alright?"

The stranger seemed to had calmed down a little bit, he lowered his crossbow but then he said something to Luke, looking at Connie. Connie read his lips. He wanted the can back.

"He wants his..." Luke started to sign.

"I know," Connie interrupted him, signing back quickly. She looked at the can in her hand and felt disappointed she had to give it back. It wouldn't have made a big meal for them all anyway, but at least it was something.

She threw the can in the direction where the man was standing, giving him an annoyed look.

He picked it up, looking at it and then at Connie. After they starred at each other for another moment, she looked back at Kelly who was squinting her eyes, as Yumiko disinfected the wound. Connie patted her shoulder and then took her hand. When they finally patched her up, they started to walk back. Connie was supporting Kelly. She couldn't help, but look back a last time at the stranger. He was still starring at them. Kelly looked back too, as the man shouted:

"Hey!"

They all stopped. The man observed the can in his hand and then threw it towards them. It landed before Connie's and Kelly's feet.

"Take it," he told them.

Connie picked it up. She gave the man a surprising look and then she smiled at him thankfully. She couldn't read the expression in his face and she wasn't sure if he was smiling back. Then he turned around and went back to his tent while they continued their way, to find a place to spend the night.

When they found an abandoned building they made a little fire to warm up and prepare the soup. The soup and some berries were barely something, they could call dinner, but it was better than nothing.

Kelly was holding her stomach when she finished eating.

"Now I feel even hungrier," she said.

"We'll try to find some more food tomorrow," Connie told her giving her an encouraging smile and Kelly smiled faintly back.

"I'm wondering where that dude is getting his food from," Luke said, talking about the stranger they encountered.

"You mean that cave man? Maybe he's hunting some mammoths," Magna joked.

"He reminded me of you," Connie signed and the others laughed.

"Me?" Magna asked surprised. Connie just shrugged.

"She's right, dear," Yumiko said and Magna narrowed her eyes.

"You have the same fierce spirit," Yumiko continued.

"He seemed to be living in the woods for too long, though," she hastily added.

"Fierce spirit," Magna repeated scornfully. "Moron can be glad I didn't kick his ass for the way he treated Connie."

"It was nice of him to give us his food, though," Connie signed.

"Yeah, but I still will gladly stay away from that freak," Kelly told her.

"And his traps too," she added pointing to her injured foot.

Connie and Luke took watch, while the others were sleeping. Connie was deep in her thoughts. She thought about the stranger. How he gave them his last food. So she was right about him. Behind those cold blue eyes and fierce spirit, there was a good heart. But there was another thing written on his face. Some kind of a deep sadness. And the way he was living told Connie that he must have lost a lot in his life.

"What are you thinking about?" Luke asked her. Connie made a gesture which said "Nothing important." Luke was still looking at her, so she quickly thought of something and signed:

"Would be nice to have a roof over our heads. And not only temporarily"

"Yes, living in a community would be nice. But let's face the truth, the civilization broke down. I doubt there is something like a community anywhere."

"Who knows, maybe there is something. I don't want to lose the hope," Connie answered.

Suddenly they saw a group of walkers approaching. They woke the others quickly and started to run away, since they weren't safe in the abandoned building, which had no doors or windows. But it was dark and the walkers came from all directions.

"What are we going to do?" Kelly asked with panic in her eyes. They all stopped and stood back to back, ready to fight, as more and more walkers were approaching. Connie asked herself if this was the end.


	3. Chapter 3 - Help

Daryl couldn't sleep. His eyes were open and he was staring into the darkness. He listened to the sound of the rain and his stomach rumble. He hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. He tried to catch some fish, but somehow it just wasn't his lucky day and he didn't catch anything. He was cursing himself for giving his last food to some strangers. Why did he do that? Was it because of the look in that woman's eyes, as she gave him the can back? It made him feel guilty, but why the hell? He didn't owe her or her group anything. He didn't owe anyone anything. And still he decided to give them his food. He also felt guilty for screaming at her before he learned that she was deaf. He should have noticed that himself. How in hell did a deaf person survive in this world anyway? She had to be tough. With that slender body she didn't look like she was a fighter, but she had to be one. And those eyes... The way she was staring at him almost felt like she was looking directly into his soul. Daryl closed his eyes, trying to sleep but he couldn't. He saw the picture of that woman and her friends before his inner eye and couldn't stop thinking about them. What if they didn't make it? They didn't look like they had a camp and they must have been starving since that one can of soup meant so much to them. He could have helped them. Alexandria wasn't taking people in anymore and the Kingdom was too far away. But he could have taken them to Hilltop. Maggie would have taken them in for sure, her community was thriving. But what would she think if he showed up there, after so long, with some strangers.

_Damn it_.

Daryl got into a sitting position. Sleeping was impossible to do, so he got out of the tent. The rain was becoming less. Since he was at least able to make some new bolts before he went to sleep, he took his crossbow with him and also a flashlight. He started to search the ground for tracks. The rain wasn't helping, it had washed away most of the tracks and he could barely see anything. So he had to guess where the group was going.

He walked through the woods, asking himself what he was doing out there in the middle of the night. Maybe he would be able to hunt something, but it could also be possible that something would hunt him. As he walked further on, he heard walkers somewhere close to him.

Daryl moved slowly, sneaking up on two of the walkers and killing them from behind with both of his knives. He was surprised how well that worked as he went on. He didn't know how long he was walking, killing the dead and still not finding anything to eat or the tracks of the group. It had to be hours and so he decided to go back. It had no use. But as soon as he turned around, he heard some sounds. It sounded like somebody was fighting. He started to walk into the direction of the sounds. Soon he saw the group he encountered before, surrounded by walkers. They were standing back to back, trying to fight the walkers off. Daryl aimed with his crossbow and shot a walker who was approaching the deaf woman. She looked surprised into his direction and he took his knives out and started fighting the walkers.

"Come on, this way," Daryl shouted and waved to the group as he saw a possibility to get away from the walkers. They all started to run after him. Daryl turned around to see if the deaf woman was also there. She was supporting the girl, who injured her foot in one of his traps. The girl couldn't run that fast, it seemed like her foot was still hurting. Daryl ran to them and helped supporting the girl, so they could move on faster. They went on like this for a while, until they left the walkers far behind. Then they stopped, to catch their breath.

"You alright?" He asked the injured girl. The deaf woman was standing next to her and he was peering at her out of the corner of his eye.

"I guess so… thanks," the girl answered.

They were all silent for a moment and Daryl noticed that they all were looking at him, which made him feel uneasy.

"You guys have a camp?" He asked.

"Do we look like we have one?" The woman with the long, curly hair answered. Daryl noticed the hostile expression in her eyes. He could see that she didn't trust him.

Daryl looked back into the direction where they came from. The walkers were still following them. Daryl could see a couple of them in the distance.

"It's not safe here," he said then.

"Yeah, tell us something we don't know yet", the woman with curly hair said with contempt.

"Magna!" Another woman interrupted her. She had Asian traits.

"Sorry about her and thank you for saving us," she told Daryl.

"Do you know a place where we could stay?"

Daryl thought about Hilltop again and wondered if he should bring them there. The woman must have noticed that he knew something.

"Please, if you know a place, then tell us. We'll die out here."

Daryl thought about it again. He asked himself if he should trust his feelings. They seemed to be decent people. And they wouldn't survive for too long on their own. He looked at them and somehow his gaze stopped at the deaf woman again. Despite everything she was smiling faintly and that smile was so contagious, that he almost smiled too. Then he realized that they all were waiting for his answer. He had to help them.

"Well, I know a place. It's a community," he said finally.

"Really? And they would take us in?" The Asian woman asked.

"I can't promise that, I've to talk to their leader first. But I could bring you there and then we'll see."

"That would be great!" The injured girl exclaimed.

"Yes, I agree, it would be fantastic!" The one man in the group told him.

"By the way, I'm Luke. And this is Magna, Yumiko, Connie and her sister Kelly." He pointed at his friends when he was introducing them and Daryl tried to memorize their names.

"And you are?" Luke asked him.

Daryl cleared his throat before he told them his name.

There was a silence and Daryl could feel how all eyes were on him again. He felt uncomfortable, especially because of the way the woman named Magna was looking at him. There was something mocking in her eyes. She made a sign to Connie, who smiled and jogged her elbow and Daryl knew she said something about him to her.

"Well, nice to meet you, Daryl," Luke finally said and Daryl was thankful that he broke the silence.

Daryl started walking and they followed him. Luke was walking by his side.

"So, um, can I ask you something?" He started and Daryl nodded.

"If you know a place where people live, why are you living out here alone in the woods?"

Daryl didn't know what to answer, so he just shrugged and Luke continued:

"Enjoying the quiet life here? Is it that?"

"Yeah, something like that," Daryl answered.

"Hey, nothing wrong with it. You seem to do well on your own," Luke said.

"People can be annoying from times to times, but I still miss living in a community," he continued.

"You lived in a community before?" Daryl asked him.

"We did. But then it was overrun. We lost a lot of friends and now it's only us… And them." Luke pointed into the direction from which they came, talking about the walkers.

In the meantime, Magna was still looking suspiciously at Daryl.

"How do we know that we can trust him?" She asked Connie, Yumiko and Kelly. She was signing, but also whispering and Daryl heard it. He also saw how the others were talking in sign language to her. Daryl couldn't blame them. He wasn't sure completely, if he could trust them either. They were still strangers to each other.

After they walked for a while, Luke was walking next to the others while Daryl was walking alone in front of them. He was still thinking about what he would say to Maggie, as he saw Kelly and Connie approaching him. He had a strange feeling in his stomach and even if it was still rumbling because of the hunger, there was something else.

Connie looked at him and then she gave her sister a glance, like she wanted her to say something to him.

"You know, it's very kind of you, to take us to that community," Kelly told Daryl.

"We've been out here for a while now and it really sucks."

"I get that," Daryl answered. He was looking at the both of them and the way Connie was staring at him, made the strange feeling in his stomach intensify.

"I also take this as compensation for me being hurt by one of your traps," Kelly continued.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Daryl said, lowering his eyes.

Connie made a sign and Kelly said: "My sister wants to say 'thank you' too." Daryl looked at Connie who smiled at him and his face slightly turned red.

"Um, tell her 'you're welcome'," he answered, looking Connie in the eyes and trying to smile too.


	4. Chapter 4 - Hilltop

"And you are?"

"Daryl."

Connie was closely watching his lips while Daryl introduced himself. She was curious what his name was and thought the name 'Daryl' was nice and fitted him well. She didn't know what exactly it was about Daryl that made her being interested in him. What she noticed was, that he was completely different to earlier this day when he had that cold expression in his eyes and yelled while pointing with his crossbow at them. Now he seemed to be calm and him agreeing to help them made him even more likable.

"Look, he has a name," Magna signed and Connie jogged her elbow. She was happy Magna didn't call him 'cave man' so that he could hear it. As they started to walk, Luke was walking by Daryl's side and talking to him while Connie had the possibility to examine him from behind. It was nighttime, but the moon shone brightly. Connie had to admit that Magna was right with her 'cave man' description of him. The long hair and the filthy cape made him really look like one. But she was sure with new clothes and a haircut he could look handsome. They were walking for a long time and Connie even forgot that she was hungry and she also didn't feel tired. She was excited about the new community and hoped the people living there would take them in. She was so grateful, that Daryl agreed to bring them there.

After some time, when he was walking alone in front of them, after Luke joined them in the back, she signed to Kelly that she wanted to talk to Daryl and the both of them caught up to him. Kelly told Daryl that she was thankful, but also talked about her injury and Connie felt a little embarrassed, since it wasn't Daryl's fault and he had helped them in so many ways. So she asked Kelly to tell him "thank you" from her and Kelly did. Daryl was almost smiling at Connie this time and the look in his eyes, as he told her she was welcome, warmed Connie's heart. This rough-edged man had really a soft side to him.

They arrived at the Hilltop at noon. Connie saw a lot of corn fields when they were walking towards the high walls and the sight was overwhelming. They didn't see such a big place, where people lived, for a long time. There were some lookouts and two men with spears came out to them. They recognized Daryl, so they accepted to let them all in. But first they wanted to collect their weapons. Magna resisted of course and it took them some time to make her finally give up her weapons. Connie didn't like to give up her weapons either, but she trusted Daryl now, since he brought them to a community, just like he promised. A woman with long dark hair came to them and introduced herself as Tara. Connie noticed that she and Daryl were close. She even hugged him. She was talking very fast, so Kelly interpreted for Connie what she said.

It came out that Hilltop's new leader, whose name was Jesus, was away and wouldn't return until evening. Tara told them that they could stay until he came back.

"You must be starving, come on, I give you something to eat," she told them and they all followed her, including Daryl. She said something to Daryl and Kelly giggled. Connie asked her what it was and she signed:

"She told him, he could use a haircut."

Daryl looked like he didn't even realize how long his hair has gotten when Tara told him that.

They all sat at the table while they were waiting. Daryl was drumming his fingers on the table and looking around. When Tara brought them something to eat, they all thanked her. They were all starving and ate very fast and Daryl was the fastest, gulping down his food. Connie was still looking at him and as he looked up to her, their eyes met. Connie had the impression he started to eat more carefully when he realized she was looking at him and she smiled again.  
After they finished eating, Tara showed them a place where they could rest. Daryl didn't go with them and Connie looked back at him, not knowing if she would see him again.  
They had a nice room and Connie's group was so happy, they could hardly believe their luck.  
Kelly lay down on the bed, signing that she loved this place already. And while Connie prayed for them being allowed to stay in this place, she was also hoping that Daryl would stay too. In the evening Jesus came back. He was a nice guy and after they all introduced themselves to him, he agreed that they could stay, if they contribute to the community.

In the next morning Connie and Kelly were working in the garden. Connie saw Daryl walking by, with much shorter hair and he also wasn't wearing his cape anymore. The shirt and the vest with one wing on it, he was wearing, emphasized his broad shoulders. Connie felt how her heart started to beat faster as he gave her a quick look and nodded in her direction. She smiled at him. It took her usually some time before she started to be interested in someone, but something in Daryl made her like him almost right from the start.

She looked at her sister, who was eyeing her suspiciously.

"Are you checking him out?" Kelly signed.

"No, I' not," Connie hastened to sign.

"Yes, you were!" Kelly grinned.

"I just think he's nice," she signed, trying to get out of this conversation. She liked Daryl but she didn't want others to tease her about it.

"He's a weirdo," Kelly signed and Connie rolled her eyes.

"But he's nice too, I guess," she continued. "And he looks less weird with the shorter hair."

This was something they both agreed on.

Two days had passed and while they were working and helping the people with whatever they could, Connie didn't see Daryl even once. She was disappointed, thinking that he had left. She regretted that she didn't have the chance to talk to him again and to tell him how grateful she was. The possibility of never seeing him again made her feel sad.

When she was carrying some things for the garden, the boxes in her hands were full and heavy and she had to watch her steps. She saw that the box on the top was about to fall down, but before it could slide down, someone caught it. Connie saw a familiar figure and Daryl said something, taking most of the boxes out of her hands and carrying them for her. She felt butterflies in her stomach, when she walked by his side, happy to see him again. When they came to the garden, he put the boxes down. She signed: "Thank you" to him, hoping he would understand and he nodded. Then he was gone and Connie felt happy the whole day, she didn't even mind Kelly's suspicious looks, when she was smiling all the time.

In the evening, when she was finished with her work, Connie saw Daryl sitting at the table making some bolts. She went over to him. She was grateful that Kelly was resting now and she had a moment alone with him.

She took her notepad out and wrote:

_Thank you again for everything. Especially for bringing us here. We would have died out there._

She sat down next to him and showed him the note. He looked at it and nodded. Then he took her notepad out of her hands, so she gave him the pen too.

_No big deal. Happy I could_ _help_, he wrote. His handwriting was a bit shaky. He slid the notepad back to her and she took it.

_You lived here before? _Connie wrote, giving him the notepad. Of course she could have told him that he could answer her and she would read his lips, but she liked how they were communicating through writing.

_Been here a couple of times, _his note said.

_Why didn't you stay? _Connie asked him.

Daryl looked at her and she could see there was a sad expression in his eyes, when he twisted her pen in his fingers.

_Long_ _story_, he wrote finally. When he gave her the notepad back, their hands touched slightly. The touch sent pleasant chills through her body and she looked him deep in the eyes, wondering if he felt something too. His gaze was warm and gave Connie the impression he enjoyed her presence just like she enjoyed being around him.

_Will you stay this time? Would be nice to see you around_, she wrote. When she looked up, she noticed that he was still staring at her.

He looked at the note and suddenly something in his gaze changed, Connie couldn't say what it was. Was it nervousness? Fear?

He mumbled something like "Maybe" and got up hastily.

"I gotta go," he said and Connie read his lips. Then he left.

Connie stayed back, confused. She asked herself why he had left so suddenly after giving her those special looks. Was she wrong about him and he wasn't interested in her? She didn't know him that well after all. Connie was exhausted from the long day, so she went back to her room. But when she was finally lying in her bed, she couldn't sleep for a long time, wondering why Daryl acted like that.

On the next day they were working in the garden again. Connie's eyes searched the surroundings for Daryl now and then, but she didn't see him. When they were finished with their work, she walked past Tara and Jesus on the way back to her room. Both greeted her with a smile and then continued talking to each other. Connie watched them. She felt a sting in her heart, as she saw Jesus asking Tara about Daryl and Tara telling him, that Daryl had left in the morning.


	5. Chapter 5 - Loneliness

Daryl was back in his room, lying in his bed and he couldn't sleep. Connie was the only thing on his mind right now. He thought a lot about her since he brought her and her group to Hilltop. He was surprised how fast she caught his attention. It must have been decades ago since he was interested in a woman like that. Every time she looked at him or gave him one of those beaming smiles, he felt like something inside him moved, making him feeling happy and anxious at once. He couldn't explain why it made him feel that way. And every time he saw her somewhere, he had a hard time not to stare at her. She was like a beautiful picture in a burned down house. A rare sight in the hell of a world, they were living in.

Daryl remembered, how she came to him to say "thank you" a couple of hours ago. How they exchanged notes and how their hands touched slightly, as he was giving her the notepad back. He had goosebumps when it happened and thought he couldn't take it anymore. What he felt for her, was new and intense and his first impulse was to run away.  
Now, lying awake and thinking about everything, he decided that he had to go. He couldn't stay at the Hilltop any longer. Those feelings he had for Connie couldn't mean anything good.  
What if he would learn that she didn't feel the same? But he was even more afraid of her liking him. He knew he couldn't be with her, he would only disappoint her. He never had a real relationship, never really loved a woman. He always pushed down those feelings when they emerged. Growing up with an abusing father and spending most of his life with his brother, made him learn, that pushing down those kind of feelings, was the best way to deal with them. And running away was his first impulse to do, when he started to feel something for a woman. Even though everything was different now, he told himself that Connie deserved someone better than him.

On the next day Daryl told Tara that he had to go and he could see that she was sad.

"Hey, you know where to find me, if you need me," Daryl told her, trying to cheer her up.

They hugged and then he left. When Daryl walked away, he went fast and his footsteps were becoming faster and faster every second, like he was afraid he would turn around and go back. His heart wanted to go back. Wanted it so badly, that it hurt, when he thought he wouldn't see Connie ever again. But his mind wouldn't let him go back. His mind told him it was better to leave now, because it would only become worse. He had nothing to offer to her if she was really interested in him and she was better off without him. He tried not to think about her the rest of the way. Only as he came back to his place in the woods, he allowed himself to dream about her one last time. When he went to sleep he imagined how it would be if she would be there, lying next to him. The night seemed to be endless and lonely, and so were the following nights. He wasn't able to push his feelings down, no matter how much he wanted to. He had always enjoyed the silence of his chosen home, but now the silence was killing him.

Although he went back to his usual agenda, going out to search for Rick and survive somehow each day, the nights were the worst. He was never aware of his loneliness until now, asking himself, if his life would look like this till the end of his days. He thought about going back to Hilltop, but couldn't find the courage to do it.

One day, when he was walking through the woods, once again caught up in his thoughts, he found an area that he didn't even recognize. He asked himself how he wound up there. Daryl tried to focus, to find the way back, when he suddenly heard something in the distance, that sounded like a dog's barking. He went into that direction. There was a small river and on the opposite side he saw a dog, tied to a tree, barking at two walkers, which were approaching it.

Daryl crossed the river without a second thought and killed the walkers.

The dog was still barking and Daryl saw its nervousness as he approached.

"It's alright, boy. It's alright," Daryl said soothingly.

He wanted to free the poor animal, but was afraid, it would bite him. So he moved very cautiously.

"Who did this to you?" He asked the dog. The dog barked and whined.

"Alright, I free you, but damn I'll be pissed, if you bite me." Daryl cut the rope with his knife. The dog barked at him a couple of times and ran away.

"Yeah, you're welcome!" Daryl shouted at the dog. Not that he expected any gratitude from an animal, but still he felt disappointed. He thought it would have been nice, to take the dog back to his camp, so he wouldn't feel so alone.

When he returned to his camp and made some dinner, he was sitting for a long time at the fire, just staring into it. All the years, when he was out here on his own, he never felt that lonely, as he felt right now.

On the next day he went out hunting again and he decided to go to the area, where he found the dog. He shot a couple of rabbits on his way. He followed the dog's tracks and finally saw it. The dog was lying next to a tree. Daryl approached and the dog lifted its ear, standing up and snarling at Daryl. He saw a dead body leaning against the tree. It was defaced and a gun was lying next to it. There was also a biting wound on its arm.

"It's okay, it's me, I helped you, remember?" Daryl spoke to the dog, hoping to calm it down. The dog lay down on the ground again and whined a bit when it looked at the dead person.

"Sorry, buddy, seems like your owner blew his brains out," Daryl said. The dog was still looking at his dead owner, like it was hoping he would wake up again. Daryl felt a sting in his heart. He felt sorry for the animal, which was alone now in this world. Of course it could become what it truly was and be wild again, but somehow it seemed like it didn't want to. It was lost and alone just like him.

"Seems like you're on your own now," Daryl murmured.

He took out a rabbit and cut it in pieces.

"You hungry? Like some rabbit?" He lay a piece on the ground in front of the dog and backed away from it. The dog looked at him and then at the piece of flesh suspiciously before cautiously approaching and eating it.

"That's good," Daryl said.

"Want some more?" He lay another piece of flesh more approximate to himself and the dog came and ate it. Then it stared at Daryl in anticipation. The next piece Daryl held out in his hand and the dog ate it from there.

"Good boy," Daryl said and petted the dog's head. Then he got up. He wished the dog would follow him, but when he started to walk, the dog only sat there and stared at him.

"Alright then, see you around," he told the dog. As he went off, he heard that the dog was approaching him. It caught up to him and licked Daryl's hand. Daryl smiled.

In the evening Daryl sat by the fire and petted the dog. At least he wasn't lonely now. Still, talking to a dog wasn't the same as talking to a human being. He thought about Connie again. He gave up trying to push his thoughts about her back, since it had no use.

"I hope she's alright," he told the dog, before he went to sleep.

Several days passed by. Daryl and the dog became good friends. Daryl thought about giving it a proper name, but somehow every time he thought about it, he felt like he would lose the dog as soon as he gave him a name. He had lost so much already and the dog was the last thing he had, so he decided to only call it Dog.

Dog helped him to keep away the walkers and even though Daryl knew now, that his fury friend was there to warn him of danger in the night, he still couldn't sleep peacefully.

One evening, when Daryl was sitting by the fire, Dog suddenly sensed something and ran away. Daryl followed him.

"Hey, not so fast, boy", Daryl told him, trying to speak not too loud. Dog started to bark at something that Daryl first thought was a walker. But when he came closer, he realized that it was a person. And it was also someone familiar. Someone who made his heart beat faster.


	6. Chapter 6 - Missing

Despite being sad about Daryl leaving, Connie was enjoying the life at Hilltop. People living there were treating her group very nicely and soon she even became friends with some of them. She also had a lot to do every day. She worked in the garden, helped in the infirmary and let Enid teach her, how to treat injuries. She was also training with people from Hilltop. Her and Kelly's slingshots became popular weapons at the Hilltop and Connie and Kelly taught the Hilltopers how to use them. On top of that they were all preparing for the big fair at the Kingdom. Connie was looking forward to it, she couldn't wait to see another community and also to see the fair. It reminded her of the life she had before the outbreak.

One day she was in the infirmary, letting Enid teach her some things, as her sister came to her.

"Hey! Luke and some others are going out there to get some supplies. They want to go back to Coalport, see if there's something there we can use for the fair," Kelly told her.

Coalport was the place where they were living, before it was overrun by walkers.

"Let me guess, it was Luke's idea to go there?" Connie signed and smiled.

"You know how obsessed he is with his instruments. He says he needs them for the fair."

Both of them laughed. Luke was a music teacher before and he had a slight obsession with music instruments. Connie always teased him about it, calling it a fetish.

Kelly asked Connie, if she wanted to go too, but since Connie was in the middle of her lesson, she told Kelly she would stay. They both hugged and Connie told Kelly to take care.

The day went by and in the evening the group still didn't return. Connie was worried. She stayed up all night waiting for them and in the morning the sleep finally overcame her and she slept a couple of hours. When she woke up, she ran outside and saw Tara. Connie instantly knew they didn't return yet, since Tara had a concerned look on her face. Magna and Yumiko came to them.

"We have to go find them," Magna said and Connie nodded.

"Maybe we should wait a little bit. They could have spent the night out there and maybe they'll be back soon," Tara suggested.

"Or maybe they're dying out there while we're talking. Magana's right we need to go out there," Yumiko said.

"Alright, but I go with you," Tara told them. She spoke to Jesus before leaving with them.

They went in the direction, where Coalport was located. Connie felt guilty for letting her sister go without her. They weren't separated for a long time, but since they started to feel comfortable and safe at the Hilltop, they didn't think much about the danger outside the walls anymore. It was almost evening as they arrived at Coalport. They saw several walkers and there was no sign that people had been there. They killed some of the walkers.

"No way Luke was here and didn't take his darling with him," Magna said showing them a Stradivarius.

"Alright, but where the hell are they then?" Yumiko looked around and Connie did too. She didn't see any tracks of them either.

"What now?" Yumiko asked.

"We should go back," Tara said. "It will be dark soon. Stumbling around in the dark without a plan, won't help."

Connie shook her head. She was determined to find her sister and not to go back without her.

"Look, I know you want to find them, but we would only get in trouble here," Yumiko said.

"Yeah, we should go back and make a plan." Magna wanted to touch Connie's shoulder but Connie escaped her touch.

"You go," she signed to them. "I have to find my sister, I'm not going back without her." She had to suppress the tears, which were rising in her eyes.

Tara was watching them and thinking about something.

"Connie…" Magna began, but Connie started to shake her head again and signing to them that they should go.

Magna and Yumiko both looked at each other and sighed.

"Guys, I maybe have an idea," Tara said finally. "Maybe we can't track them, but I know who can."

"You mean that guy, Daryl?" Yumiko asked, who remembered how Daryl already helped them more than once.

"Yes, he's the best tracker I know," Tara told them.

"And you know where his cave is?" Magna asked a little suspiciously and added "I mean camp." As she saw Connie's stern look.

"Yeah, it's not far away, come on," Tara said.

Connie's heart was beating fast. She was anxious about her sister and the possibility to see Daryl again who would maybe help them, made her heart jump.

Magna was still not sure if he would help them once again, but Tara told them that he would and that he was that kind of guy who people could rely on.

Tara was walking in front of them, when they encountered some walkers. They were all fighting them and Connie had to move a little away from the group, to escape some of the walkers. She was shooting them with her slingshot as she suddenly saw a dog running to her. She wasn't afraid of dogs, she actually loved them, but the apocalypse made her being cautious, since many dogs had become wild now. She shivered as she saw how the dog was barking at her. But then, behind the dog, someone emerged and Connie recognized Daryl.

Daryl petted the dog's head and it stopped barking and started liking his hand.

Tara came to him.

"Hey! What's up?" She told him, while Daryl looked around suspiciously.

Connie smiled at him, happy to see him again, but Daryl avoided her eyes.

"Didn't expect to see you all here again," he murmured. Connie had a hard time to figure out the words. She was also disappointed about him not looking at her anymore like he used to.

"Yeah, we kinda need your help," Tara told him. There was a little pause before he nodded. Tara told him that some people went missing and Daryl agreed to help them once again. Yumiko thanked him and Connie smiled, but he still wasn't looking at her.

When they started walking, Tara was walking next to Daryl and Connie was walking next to Tara. Magna an Yumiko were behind them and Dog was running in front of them all.

"Found yourself a new friend?" Tara asked Daryl.

"He just followed me," Daryl said shrugging and again Connie had a hard time to figure out what he was saying.

He wasn't looking at her, but she was inspecting his face very closely. Connie could see deep rings under his eyes, which told her that he didn't get a lot of sleep in the last time. Was it because of her? But no, she tried to quickly shake that thought. He didn't even seem to be happy to see her again. She had been probably wrong about him and he didn't like her at all. Given her handicap, maybe he was even annoyed by her. It would explain why he tried to avoid her gazes now, but not why he was starring at her in that certain way, back at the Hilltop. Still the most important thing was to find her sister and the others and Connie tried to focus on that.

They walked for a while until they came to a spot where Daryl stopped. He went on his knee inspecting the ground.

"Found something?" Magna asked him.

"Maybe," Daryl mumbled and stood up. "They might got into a fight here."

Connie shivered, when she read the word "fight" on Daryl's lips. They followed the track and found some blood.

"It went really bad here," Daryl continued. They saw a little shack nearby and went in with their weapons up.

Luke, who was injured badly, was sitting in the corner. Connie and the others ran to him.

"Oh my god, what happened?" Yumiko asked.

"We were attacked," he answered and it took him a lot of effort to speak.

"Sickos?" Magna asked.

"No, it were people, they were..." Luke couldn't talk anymore.

"Shht, it's alright." Magna and Yumiko both helped him up and supported him outside.

"We have to bring him back," Yumiko said.

"I know," Connie signed. "But what about Kelly?"

Luke shook his head and brought out: "Don't know where..."

Connie almost started to cry. She knew they had to help Luke, but knowing her sister was out there, maybe injured too, almost broke her heart.

"Hey, you go. I'll look for her," Daryl told them. Connie gave him a grateful look.

"I'll go with him," she signed to the others. Daryl looked at her nervously.

"She said she'll go with you," Yumiko told him.

"No, tell her 'no', I go alone," Daryl said, shaking his head.

Connie was frustrated and angry as she saw him talking like that. He didn't like her, fine, but her sister was her concern and she had to find her.

_I'll go with you! _She wrote hastily on her notepad and her hand was shaking a bit, because her emotions got the best of her.

"I said, NO!" Daryl said firmly, looking her in the eyes this time.

_And I said YES_, she wrote and Daryl looked confused as she showed him her note.

"How did you...?" He began.

"She can read your lips," Magna told him and Connie knew, Magna had a hard time not to call him "moron" again, even though this time, Connie wouldn't even bothered.

Daryl was surprised.

"Look, we don't have time for that," Yumiko said. "Luke needs a doctor, we'll bring him back to Hilltop and you two go."

And without waiting for Daryl's answer, they all left. Magna and Yumiko supported Luke, while Tara was walking in front of them and watching out for walkers.

Daryl and Connie looked at them and then at each other.

"Com' on," Daryl told her finally and they started to look for Kelly's tracks.


	7. Chapter 7 - Masks

"There are more tracks," Daryl said, trying to speak clearly as he pointed at them. Connie gave him a stern look and then looked down at the ground. She didn't smile even once since the others left, while they were looking for tracks. She hardly looked at him anymore and when she did, she had that stern expression on her face. Daryl wondered if she was only concerned about her sister or angry at him. Maybe both. But wasn't that what he wanted? Wasn't that better if she didn't like him? Wouldn't it make things easier? He didn't know. The only thing he knew, was that it bothered him more than he would have liked to admit. He had hoped his feelings for her would disappear when he didn't see her for some time, but now seeing her again, angry at him or not, made his heart beat fast and his hands sweaty. He tried to concentrate on the tracks. After finding Luke in that bad shape he knew they probably hadn't much time to find Kelly, if they wanted to find her alive. And by no means Daryl wanted Connie to lose her sister. He would do anything to prevent her going through that pain. Daryl was lost in his thoughts, following the tracks, when suddenly Dog started to bark and Daryl and Connie were alarmed as they saw walkers coming out of the woods. They started to shoot them and fight them off with their knives. While they were fighting them, Daryl saw more walkers in the distance.

"There's too many of 'em," he murmured, but Connie didn't notice it, she was still fighting.

"Come on, there's too many of 'em," he told her grabbing her arm and pulling her in his direction, which resulted in her giving him an ice cold stare. His heart reacted with a sting at this and he let go of her arm again. While they started running away, Connie took a kitchen timer out of her bag. She took some of them with her, since her group often used them to distract walkers. Daryl looked at it.

"Good idea," he told her. She set the alarm and gave him the timer. He threw it as far as he could to his left and then they ran into the opposite direction. They came to a little graveyard and sat with their backs to a wall, catching their breath. Daryl was holding Dog back, as they heard the alarm of the timer in the distance. They were hoping the walkers would walk into the direction of the timer.

After a couple of minutes Daryl cautiously got up looked behind the wall. He saw the walker herd heading towards their hiding place, the alarm didn't seem to distract them.

"What the hell?" He said and sat down next to Connie again, who gave him a questioning look.

He gave her a sign to stay calm. His heart was beating fast, when she took her notepad out and started to write something. Her shoulder touched his and he shivered.

_What now?_ She wrote.

_We wait, h_e wrote back.

When the herd was passing by the wall, Daryl heard their sounds and he was holding Dog closely, afraid that the animal would bark or run to the walkers, but Dog behave and Daryl was thankful to Dog's former owner, who must have trained Dog to stay calm in certain situations. Blood was pulsating in Daryl's ears when the walkers were approaching and he also noticed that Connie was sitting closer to him than before. And then in between the noises, he heard something. Something that sounded like human speech.

"Where are they?" Some of the walkers whispered. Daryl could clearly make out the words. But he told himself that he must have imagined it. Walkers couldn't speak, they were dead, all they could do was walk and eat. Was he going crazy? Did his feelings for Connie cloud his mind?

And then he herd the noise of the gate, which opened with a squealing sound. He was on his feet at once and also helped Connie up. They ran to the gate on the other side of the graveyard and closed it behind them. Daryl wasn't sure anymore, if they closed the gate before they entered the graveyard. But it couldn't be, since the walkers didn't know how to open doors. Still they decided to run and they ran so long until they were out of breath again. In the distance they saw several walkers who were standing around a tree. Daryl watched them closely and was wondering if they saw a squirrel or something there. As they came closer he finally saw that a person was sitting in the tree.

_It's my sister! _Connie wrote and was nervously tugging his arm, but Daryl recognized her already. They approached cautiously, but the walkers must have sensed them. Some of them approached them and Daryl and Connie started shooting at them. They killed two of them but the third one somehow dodged their attacks. Daryl couldn't believe again what he saw, since the movement the walker made, looked very humanly. He took his knives out and started to fight that human-walker while Connie went to the tree where her sister was. Again the walker dodged some of his attacks, until Daryl was finally able to kill him. He crouched down and saw that the walker was a human, wearing a mask. As he looked up again, he saw two more of those strange people approaching Connie from behind and he could clearly see that both of them had knives. He ran to her as fast as he could, afraid that they would hurt her. He got there just in time and held his left hand against the knife which almost hit Connie in the back. He felt a slight pain in his hand and kicked the person with his foot in the gut, then he attacked it with his knife, but the person dodged the attack and placed a cut across Daryl's face. This cut hurt more and Daryl felt blood running down his nose and cheek before he finally killed the person. Then he approached the other masked person which was just standing there, with its knife out, but seemingly scared. As the person saw Daryl approaching, it ran away. Daryl took his crossbow and tried to shoot the person, but missed, since the blood was running into his eye and he couldn't see properly. He went to the tree and together with Connie they helped Kelly to get down. Both sisters hugged each other while Daryl took a handkerchief out of his pocket and wrapped it around his bloody hand. Connie approached him. She wanted to clean his face from blood and patch him up, so she took out some medical supplies out of her bag, but he turned away and shook his head. He could see her face darkening again.

"Not now," he told her wiping the blood off his face with his hand. "We better get going before the herd comes."

They started to walk away as fast as they could and Daryl looked at Connie out of the corner of his eye while they were walking. The look on her face changed from angry to concerned. Daryl was relieved about it.

"Can we take a break?" Kelly asked after some time and Daryl nodded. He was exhausted too.

Connie saw a little cabin in the distance and pointed at it. They all went there.

"I'm so exhausted," Kelly said, as they made sure there weren't any walkers in the cabin and went in. It was dirty and musty inside, but none of them really cared. Kelly sat down, yawning.

"So those people wearing masks attacked you?" Daryl asked her.

"Yeah, they came out of nowhere, first we thought they were sickos, but then we saw they had knives. We ran in different directions from them, I don't even know where Luke is," Kelly was suddenly concerned as she remembered it. "Is he okay, did you see him?"

"He's gonna be alright, we found him. Your friends are bringing him back," Daryl told her.

"Oh thank god!" Kelly put a hand against her chest. She smiled at her sister and Connie smiled back at her. Then Kelly lay down on the floor.

"I hope you don't mind if I close my eyes for a minute, I'm so tired," she said and was asleep in the next moment. Connie and Daryl exchanged a look and both were almost smiling. Then Connie took a bottle filled with water and a tissue out of the bag. She gave Daryl a questioning look and he finally decided to give in. She cleared his face from blood and disinfected the wound, then she patched up the wound on his hand and bandaged it. Daryl was watching her closely while she was doing it. His heart was beating so fast that he thought it would jump out of his chest any minute and he also was holding his breath a couple of times when she came too close to him. The treatment of his wounds hurt a bit and still somehow he had this crazy wish she would never stop treating his wounds. When she was finished she wrote on her notepad:

_Sorry, I know you don't like me much, but after helping us, it was the least I could do._

Daryl gave her a long look, not knowing if he should be relieved about her being wrong regarding his true feelings for her or not. Then he quickly looked at Kelly who was sleeping on the floor. He wanted to say something, but didn't know how, so he took Connie's notepad instead. Writing was at least a bit easier.

_Why you think I don't like you?_ He wrote, then regretted it, but it was too late, Connie already took the notepad out of his hand and read what he had written. She started writing and he peeked over her shoulder to see what it was, since he was too nervous to wait for her answer.

_You left Hilltop without saying a word, _she simply wrote, giving him the notepad. He thought for a minute and then answered:

_I'm not used to be around people anymore, that's all._

He thought it was a good answer. He didn't want her to be angry at him and he didn't want her to think she was the reason he left.

_Maybe you should try. You're a good person._

Daryl finished reading even before she handed him the note. He sighed and wished he could go back to Hilltop and live there and see Connie every day. But something was holding him back, something that he couldn't fight against. _I'm not as good as you think_, he thought, but still was afraid to write it. She was looking at him in anticipation and he didn't know what to write. He didn't want her to think bad of him, but he was also afraid she would care about him too much and he would disappoint her.

_Maybe I don't want people to care about me too much_, he wrote with a shaky hand.

He handed her the note, avoiding her eyes again. When she started to write, she moved a bit away from him and he couldn't see anymore what she was writing. He thought she was angry at him again.

She ripped off the note from her notepad and stood up, giving it to him. He watched how she went to Kelly and lay down next to her. It took him several minutes, till he was finally able to look at the note, he was holding in his trembling hand.

_What if they already do?_


	8. Chapter 8 - The Fair

Connie pretended to sleep. But she wasn't sleeping, instead she looked at Daryl, who was sitting by the window and still holding her note in his hand. She wasn't sure if he was especially talking about her, when he wrote _Maybe I don't want people to care about me too much_, but somehow she had the impression, he was. And when she answered him, she was talking about her own feelings too. But did he get it? And what if he wasn't talking about her? Then it was definitely good, she didn't make her confession sound too obvious. Daryl still was a mystery to her and it was driving her crazy. But it was this particular side about him that also made her being interested in him so much. It was a challenge, to find out how he really felt about her and she was ready to take it. She closed her eyes and realized how exhausted she was. Her thoughts began to race, suddenly she started to think about the people in the weird masks again and how she almost lost Kelly. She felt ashamed for thinking about a man more than thinking about her sister and what danger she had been in. But Connie couldn't help it. Daryl was the last thought on her mind, when she finally fell asleep.

She woke up when it was already morning. Daryl was still sitting by the window. Kelly woke up too and rubbed her eyes.

"Whoa, it's morning. Were you awake all night?" She asked Daryl.

"Must've been only a couple of hours," he answered.

"Why didn't you wake us?"

"Figured it's no use to stumble around in the dark with them freaks out there. It was better to wait for the sunlight."

Connie felt bad that Daryl didn't sleep at all and gave him an apologizing look. He answered with a faint smile and stood up.

"Com' on it's time to go back to Hilltop."

They went mostly in silence and when they arrived at the Hilltop, their friends were glad to see them again. Magna and Yumiko hugged Connie and Kelly and told them that Luke was alright and that he was on his way to recover.

In the meantime Daryl was talking to Tara. Connie saw her asking him: "Are you going with us to the fair?"

Daryl and Connie exchanged a look and then Daryl nodded slightly. Connie smiled.

She went to visit Luke. It hurt her heart to see him being injured and the joyous feeling in her heart disappeared, while tears were rising in her eyes. She told him she was sorry for what happened to him. Luke tried to smile and assured her he would be soon on his feet. Connie had still a sad look on her face, so he continued:

"It's okay, really. I guess I'm missing out on the fair, though. But I can't contribute without my instruments anyway."

"Maybe I'll find something for you there," Connie signed to him before she left.

She was excited about the fair and also about Daryl going with them. But then Magna and Yumiko told her that they decided to stay at the Hilltop with Luke. Connie felt bad about it and told them, she would stay too.

"Look, we know how excited you were about the fair, so you and Kelly should go," Yumiko said.

"She's right. Maybe you can beat Mr. cave man at some carnival games," Magna agreed, nudging Connie.

"Or you can share a candy apple with him," Yumiko added and she and Magna both giggled. Connie rolled her eyes. She had to admit to herself that it was impossible to hide her crush on Daryl from her friends.

Magna and Yumiko walked away, whispering and giggling like schoolgirls.

She went to Daryl, who helped to put some supplies on the horse wagons. As soon as he saw her, he stopped and looked at her.

_I'm glad you're coming with us to the fair_, she wrote then and she noticed the nervous look on his face.

"Yeah, thought people could use my help. And maybe it's about time to visit some of my friends."

They were both silent and Connie wondered if they would have some time alone at the fair together or if Daryl will be with his friends all the time. At least it was good, that he decided to be around people again.

On the next day they went to the fair.

On the way to Kingdom Connie noticed that Daryl was looking at her from times to times with that longing look in his eyes again and she was happy about it. She also enjoyed the beautiful weather and the surroundings, but then she noticed a little movement deep in the woods. She stopped and looked closer. Suddenly she had that uneasy feeling that somebody was watching them. Maybe those masked people again?

Kelly touched her shoulder and startled her. Dog seemed to sense something too, he stopped and Daryl stopped too.

"What is it?" Kelly asked. Connie looked again into the woods, but she couldn't see anything. Maybe she just had imagined it.

"It's nothing," she signed and they continued to walk. They reached the Kingdom in the late afternoon. The fair had already started and there were many people there. Connie didn't have seen so many people in one place for a long time. She didn't know where to look first, it was magical. All the colorful decorations, booths, and happy people. It was like she was entering a whole new world. Kelly was even more excited than her.  
In the meantime, Daryl went to a woman with long gray hair and a man with a friendly look on his face. Connie wanted to go with him, but Kelly wanted to go to one of the booths, so she walked away with her sister. She looked one last time at Daryl and then she lost him out of sight. She went with Kelly through the fair and they found a place where someone was offering some music instruments.

"We need to find something we can exchange for one of them!" Kelly told her and Connie agreed. Then they saw a person giving away candy apples. There was a big queue and Kelly got in line while Connie spotted Daryl who was standing near the shooting gallery. She told Kelly that she would be right back and went to Daryl. She touched his shoulder slightly and he greeted her with a little smile on his face.

Then he asked her: "Wanna try your luck?"

Connie nodded and wrote: _You first._

"Alright," Daryl said and took the old looking shotgun in his hands. There were 8 ducks and the person who would shoot them all, would win a price. He was good and almost got them all, but missed with his last shot. Connie saw him cursing at that when he gave her the shotgun.

She thought the game was pretty easy and she hit 7 ducks too. She was sure she could get the last one as well, but when she looked at Daryl and saw the nervousness in his eyes, she decided to miss the last one on purpose.

Daryl wanted to try it again and this time he got all of them. Connie smiled as she saw the proud expression on his face. The price for the game was a wooden coin with a letter on it.

Daryl looked shyly at Connie and told her, she could pick one, if she liked to.

She took the coin with the letter "D" on it.

"You want the 'D'?" He asked, surprised, since she took one with the first letter of his name instead of hers. But then his face turned slightly red, probably, because he realized how ambiguous that phrase sounded.

Connie realized it too and was almost laughing. She wanted to write:

_Let's go out on a date first and then we'll see. _But she didn't dare to do it, since she didn't know how he would react to it. She desperately wanted to ask him out on a date, though. Kelly came to them with two candy apples and gave Connie one of them.

"They are delicious," she signed while she was holding her apple between her teeth.

Connie tasted it and had to admit that Kelly was right. She offered Daryl to taste it. He looked at her and then at the apple suspiciously before he took it. Connie could see on his face that he liked it too. They spent the rest of the day walking through the fair and later Daryl introduced them to the King and Queen. The King, whose name was Ezekiel, told them that there would be a movie night on the next day of the fair where they would show some cartoons and Connie couldn't believe that. She never thought she would see something like that after the outbreak. The day went by too fast and Connie was happy the fair would continue for two more days.

When it became night, people went to sleep. Since there were many visitors at the Kingdom and there weren't enough beds for all of them, people had to sleep on the floor. Connie was glad that Daryl went into one of the houses with her and Kelly and they lay down next to each other. It was dark and they barely could see each other's faces and still they were starring at each other. They didn't have a moment alone at the fair, since Kelly was there all the time and other people too, but right now even with all the people around them, who were sleeping on the floor, Connie felt like there was only her and Daryl in the room. They were lying close to each other and their hands touched slightly. Connie didn't know who made a movement first, but somehow his hand was suddenly under hers and she could feel how warm it was. He started caressing the back of her hand softly with his thumb and she felt a pleasant fluttery sensation in her stomach. The moment seemed to last forever and she wished it would never end.

When she woke up on the next morning, Daryl wasn't lying next to her anymore. She asked herself if it had been only a dream last night, the touch of their hands and how they were starring at each other in the darkness. And what if it wasn't a dream and Daryl left again after that? Connie was up immediately. Her sister, who was lying next to her rolled on her other side and Connie saw that most of the people were still sleeping. She moved cautiously and sneaked out of the house, trying not to wake anyone. She went through the Kingdom and it was strange how abandoned it seemed to be, with most of the people still sleeping. Connie's eyes were searching for Daryl and she was relieved when she saw him next to the gate, watching Dog, who was walking near the fence and sniffing at something.

Connie took out her notepad and wrote:

_I'm glad you're still here, I thought you left again. _She touched his shoulder gently and showed him the note.

"Nah, not this time," he said with a meaningful glance. They starred at each other for a moment and he added: "Dog just needed some exercise."

Connie thought for a moment and then she started to write again.

_Promise you won't leave, if I ask you something?_

Daryl looked at the note and nodded.

_Do you want to - _She stated to write, but in that moment the gate opened as some new visitors came in and Dog suddenly ran outside.

"Dog, wait!" Daryl shouted and ran after him. Connie saw it, so she put her notepad back, sighed, and followed them.


	9. Chapter 9 - Lydia

Dog woke Daryl early in the morning. He was licking his hand and Daryl knew his four legged friend had to answer the call of the nature. He went outside with Dog, yawning and not fully awake yet. Most people were still sleeping, so he went past the abandoned booths, enjoying the fresh air of the morning. He followed Dog, who was walking next to the fence and inspecting something. Even though it was still warm in the day, the nights and mornings had became colder. For the first time since he had decided to live in the woods, he thought about joining a community again. He had spent a lot of time living in a tent and it wasn't always a pleasant experience, especially when it was cold outside. But he knew, the main reason for him wanting to live in a community again had something to do with the day before.  
He didn't sleep well before they went to the fair and the sleep deprivation had taken its toll. He was incredibly tired when they arrived at the Kingdom. The tiredness made everything seem surreal and more or less like a dream to him. The colorful decoration, people with happy expressions on their faces and the cheerful music, he could hear somewhere in the distance.  
It was also nice to see Carol and Ezekiel again. He talked to them for a while and they offered him to stay at the Kingdom after the fair. He said he would think about, but that was what he always said and then he just went back into the woods. But now, going back to living in his tent, only with his Dog accompanying him, wasn't something he was looking forward to. He enjoyed the day at the fair a lot and especially Connie's presence. Spending the day with her at the fair made it one of the best days he had in a long time. Her constant smile made him forget about his tiredness and the danger they escaped from. And then last night, the touch of her hand. He often had imagined her lying her next to him, after he left Hilltop and he couldn't believe that it finally happened. It didn't matter that other people were around them, it was dark and most of them were sleeping. He could stare at Connie as much as he liked, without anyone noticing it. She was the only one who probably noticed it, but she didn't seem to mind, because she was staring right back at him. In the dark everything seemed to be easier, so maybe that gave him the courage to lay his hand under hers. She didn't pull her hand away and she seemed to like it, when he caressed the back of her hand with his thumb. He didn't touch someone like that for a long time, if ever. And what now? The fear was still there. The fear to disappoint her, the fear to let his feelings rule his mind. But he couldn't run away. Not again. And the thought about living in a community became more and more appealing. Maybe only for the winter. And then he could still leave. Right now he didn't want to leave, though. Even if he would never be so close to Connie like he was last night, he wanted to stay and to be able to see her every day.  
Daryl walked after Dog, who was still sniffing at something near the fence and soon they both were standing next to the front gate. Daryl wanted to turn around to go back as he noticed a gentle touch on his shoulder and he saw Connie. He felt joy overwhelming him and as he saw her note, where she told him, she was afraid he would have left again. He hastened to say: "Nah, not this time."

He stared at her for a moment admiring her beautiful face and then added something about Dog, just to say something. As he read the next note on her notepad, his heart began to race. She wanted to ask him something important. What could it be? Daryl stared at her face again while she was writing and not looking at him. Suddenly the sound of the opening gate distracted him and he looked in its direction. While some people were coming in, Dog ran outside. Afraid that he would lose Dog forever, Daryl ran after him, shouting that he should stop.

Daryl was running for some time until he noticed that Connie was following him. He didn't know if they were running in the right direction, since he lost Dog out of sight and he was getting more and more nervous. He realized how attached he had become to that animal. Losing him would be devastating. Daryl and Connie had to go through thick bushes and Daryl held a branch up to help Connie to get through. He was glad she came with him, because she was a capable fighter and he didn't know what was waiting for them outside the gates. Suddenly Daryl heard Dog barking in the distance and he signaled to Connie to follow him. He ran as fast as he could until he finally saw Dog, who was barking and standing in front of a bush. Daryl also saw some footsteps on the ground and thought that someone must have been hiding there.

He put his crossbow up and nodded to Connie, who got her slingshot ready.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" He shouted.

Very hesitant someone came out. It was a young girl with dirty clothes and greasy, long hair. She looked scared and she was starring at Dog who was still barking at her. Daryl petted Dogs head and signaled him to stop.

"Who are you?" Daryl asked the girl in an angry tone. Something about her seemed odd to him.

"M-m-my name is Lydia," the girl stuttered shyly looking at the ground.

"You're alone?"

The girl gave him a quick look, but then lowered her eyes again and nodded. Daryl looked at Connie and could read in her eyes that she felt pity for that girl. Daryl still wasn't sure what to think of her, though.

"And what are you doing here?" He continued to interrogate the girl. He couldn't believe that a young, weak looking girl like her could have survived so long on her own. No, something was wrong about her.

"I'm just... I'm..." The girl started and her voice broke. She still seemed to be scared and she didn't dare to look at Daryl.

"I'm searching for some food. I don't want trouble. If you want me gone, I'll go."

Daryl thought about taking her to the Kingdom. But after the incident with Michonne and the kids, he couldn't do it. It was too risky to endanger the whole community and the fair. The girl had to manage on her own, even if he didn't like to leave her to her fate, he had to think about his people.

"Good luck out here then," he said finally. "Come on, Dog." He turned around to leave, but saw out of the corner of his eye, that Connie went to the girl and lay a hand on her shoulder. Then she looked in his direction and their eyes met. Daryl slowly shook his head. He understood that Connie wanted to help that girl, but they couldn't take her with them.

"We can't," he told her, scarcely audible, by only moving his lips.

Connie took he notepad out and started to write something.

_We can't leave her out here. She's alone, she will die._

"We can't take her with us, either" Daryl told her then a little louder.

_Why not?_

"'Cause we don't know her," he answered Connie and then spoke to Lydia: "Look, I'm sorry, but we..."

"No, that's okay, really," Lydia interrupted him. "I'm good on my own, I will just go." She wanted to walk away but Connie held her back.

_You helped us, why don't you want to help her? _Connie wrote and showed Daryl the note.

Daryl didn't know what to say. It was different this time, but the only explanation for it was the bad feeling in his gut and the events from the past, which were still haunting him and which Connie didn't know about. He didn't know how to explain it to her and he also saw the determined look on her face. He instantly knew, he couldn't say anything to change her mind. Daryl didn't want to argue with her again. And maybe she was right. He finally decided to take the girl with them, but to keep an eye on her.

"Fine," he said and his voice sounded testy. "We take you with us, but if I find out you were lying and if you try something..." Daryl didn't finish the sentence, because he saw the expression in Connie's eyes which told him that he should leave the girl alone.

"You have a weapon?" Daryl asked her, trying to speak calmer and Lydia showed him a knife. "Only this."

He took the knife out of her hand.

"We keep that, as long as you're with us," he told her and he could see that she became nervous, but she still agreed.

When they came back to the Kingdom, the second day of the fair had started already and there were some people all over the place again. Kelly came running to them. She had a worried look on her face and signed something to her sister. Connie signed something back with an apologizing look.

"And who's that?" she asked about Lydia and Connie answered her in sign language again. Then she wrote to Daryl:

_We'll go find something to eat and fresh clothes for Lydia. Maybe you should tell your friends about her._

Daryl agreed and watched them walking away. He talked to Carol and Tara about the girl and they both agreed to let her stay, but to keep an eye on her.

When he reunited with Connie, Kelly and Lydia again, the girl looked clean and she was wearing fresh clothes. The four of them went through the Kingdom together and Kelly was talking to Lydia, who wasn't looking at her and answering shortly now and then. Daryl was watching them and he couldn't help but thinking that Lydia reminded him a lot of himself. The way she was avoiding people's eyes and mostly looking at the ground, not talking much. It was her behavior, that made him suspicious, because it seemed like she was hiding something. He knew he acted mostly like her, when he first met Rick and the others. And they probably looked at him the same way he looked at Lydia now. Daryl wanted to enjoy the day, but he couldn't. He was still wondering, if it was the right decision to let Lydia in. The painful memories, which he tried to push down all the time, came back all at once, as he thought about how he and Michonne had to fight against those kids, who tried to kill them. He had to kill some of them and he could never forget how it felt. Now even Connie's smile and her positive attitude, couldn't brighten his mood. What would she think of him, if she knew what he had done? And what if Lydia would try to hurt his people too? Could he do it again? Could he kill a kid? He looked at Lydia and saw a faint smile on her face, as Kelly told her something funny and he hoped desperately that his concerns about her would turn out to be wrong.


	10. Chapter 10 - Haunted by the Past

After they found fresh clothes for Lydia and she went to the shower, Connie and Kelly were waiting for her.

"And you found her out there in the woods?" Kelly asked.

"Yes, she was all alone, so we decided to take her with us," Connie signed.

"Was she abandoned?" Connie could see the sad expression on Kelly's face and she instantly knew, Kelly must have been thinking about their parents, who abandoned them when they were young.

"I think maybe she has lost her parents."

"She looks lonely. And she's kinda cute. I'll look after her." Connie raised her eyebrow and Kelly shrugged. Lydia came out with new clothes on her, clutching the bottom of her shirt and looking around with insecurity.

She shortly looked at Connie and Kelly.

"They are nice," she said about the new clothes. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. You wanna take a look around? The fair is awesome!" Kelly told her and Lydia nodded shyly.

They found Daryl, who was still eyeing the girl suspiciously when he saw her and Connie gave him an encouraging nudge. She wanted him to enjoy the day and the fair. But no matter how hard she tried, he still had that concerned look on his face. Having Lydia around seemingly made him worried and Connie felt bad for persuading him to bring her in. But on the other hand she couldn't just have left the girl out there to die.

Kelly and Lydia played some carnival games while Connie and Daryl were watching them. Lydia seemed to get a bit more comfortable and Connie even saw a little smile on her face.

When it became evening, they went to the big building where the movies were shown. Connie and Daryl sat down next to each other. Connie wasn't able to focus on the funny cartoons, even though she was looking forward all day to see them. She looked at Lydia and Kelly who, unlike her, seemed to have fun. The cartoon they were watching now, was about a wolf who was trying to impress a female wolf. In one scene the wolf girl kissed him and in that moment Connie looked in Daryl's direction. She noticed that he moved his head to look at her too and she was wondering if he was thinking about kissing her. She got butterflies in her stomach by this thought. But then his eyes went back to the screen. Connie was still looking at him and he didn't seem to focus on the cartoons, since he wasn't even smiling. Connie looked at his hand on the armrest. She hesitated for a moment and then she lay her hand above his. He looked at her in surprise and then at his hand. Then he twisted his hand slowly and their fingers intertwined. Connie wasn't sure but she thought she saw the corner of his mouth moving up a bit and he seemed to be more at ease. They were holding hands the whole time till the cartoons were over and Connie couldn't stop smiling. When the last cartoon ended, people were clapping and Daryl and Connie released their hands and clapped too.  
Connie could see Daryl looking at her out of the corner of his eye while they walked to their sleeping place. She was a little bit disappointed since Kelly lay down next to her and Lydia next to Kelly. Daryl sat down on the floor next to Lydia. An hour passed and Connie couldn't sleep. She looked in Daryl's direction who was still sitting on the floor with his arms around his knees. Then he stood up and went outside. After a while she followed him.

Connie saw him sitting on a table, smoking. She sat down next to him and he looked at her briefly. He took out a cigarette box and held it in front of her, offering her to take one. Connie hated cigarettes, her parents smoked a lot in the house when she and Kelly were little and still lived with them. Cigarette smoke always reminded her of those times and she hated the smell of it. She waved with her hand, telling him "no" and the disgusted expression on her face must have told him that she didn't like it much, so he put his cigarette out. She still could see the grave look on his face, so she wrote:

_What is it? Are you still worried about Lydia?_

Daryl looked at the note, then at her and nodded.

_But why? She's only a girl who's lost._

Daryl sighed and looked her in the eyes. Connie could see that something was bothering him a lot.

"A good friend of mine," he began and Connie stared at his lips to be able to read them.

"She had that friend she knew… from, you know, _before_." He looked at Connie with an unsure look in his eyes, probably wondering if she understood him and she nodded.

"That woman came to our community, she had some kids with her and my friend let her in. Turns out that woman's crazy and she trained the kids to hurt people. She disappeared one day, took my friend's daughter with her."

Connie was shocked to read that on his lips. Daryl continued:

"We went out to find her and when we did, the kids attacked us. My friend was pregnant, but they didn't care. They tried to kill us, to kill her little girl too."

Daryl stood up and walked away a couple of steps. He was standing with his back to Connie and she wasn't sure if he was still talking and thought that he probably had forgotten she couldn't hear him. She stood up too, went to him and softly touched his arm, making him turn around. Connie could see he had a hard time to hold the tears back.

"We had to…" he whispered and stopped. "I..." He didn't have to say more, Connie figured out what happened then. She lay a finger on his lips, so he would know he didn't have to continue.

They were standing close to each other, looking each other in the eyes. Seeing tears in his eyes made Connie's heart hurt and she wanted to comfort him. She wrapped her arms around him. She felt how his body tensed under her touch, but after a couple of moments he returned the hug. They were standing like that for a while, before they parted and sat down again.

"What a fucked up story, ain't it?" He said then.

_Life is like this, these days, _Connie wrote. _I get now why you're concerned about Lydia. But I don't think she's a threat._

"I hope you're right," Daryl told her. Then he narrowed his eyes and stared into space.

_Is that why you were living in the_ woods? Connie asked him after some time.

"Nah. I was looking for someone." He looked Connie in the eyes again and she could see a lot of pain in them.

"He probably died and I wanted to bring him back. But I've never found him. Guess I was chasing a ghost all those years."

_I'm sorry. _Connie wrote and looked at him in compassion.

"Yeah, it's okay."

_I hope you find him one day. Or whatever you are looking for._

Their eyes met after Daryl finished reading her note and his look moved from her eyes to her lips. She was hoping he would kiss her. She moved a bit closer to him, her heart was beating fast. But then Daryl looked away and cleared his throat.

"Maybe we should go back. Get some sleep," he told her then. She nodded, trying to smile and not to show her disappointment, before they walked back to the sleeping room.

On the next day, the fair was still going on, but some people were already preparing to go home. Daryl, Connie, Lydia and Kelly were sitting at the table and eating. Connie could see that Daryl looked tired, but when their eyes met he gave her a faint smile. Tara and most people from Hilltop wanted to go back in the early afternoon and Kelly asked Connie if they should go too. Connie looked at Daryl again. She wanted him to go with them. She would have stayed at the Kingdom or wherever he wanted to live, but she knew Hilltop was Kelly's new home and their friends were waiting there for them to return.

So she nodded slightly at Kelly and told her "yes".

"Is Lydia coming with us?" Kelly asked her. The two of them had became friends already and Connie even suspected that Kelly had a little crush on Lydia.

_I would like to take Lydia with us to the Hilltop, s_he began to write. She could feel how Daryl was staring at her note over her shoulder and her heart was beating fast as she added:

_Are you coming with us?_

Daryl, who already must had read her note as soon as she finished writing it, looked around and said nothing.

Then he cautiously took the pen out of her hand and wrote:

_Somebody should keep an eye on the girl, right?_

She read the note and when she looked up she could see a little smile on his lips.

Before they went to the horse wagon, Kelly and Lydia ran quickly to the person who was offering some music instruments and exchanged some of the prices they won at the fair for an old ukulele. Kelly was happy and told Lydia she wanted to give it to a friend who was hurt and couldn't come to the fair.

On their way back Connie was sitting in a horse wagon opposite to Kelly and Lydia. Kelly was teaching Lydia some ASL signs and Lydia was focused on what she was showing her. Connie felt happy. She couldn't believe that Daryl was coming with them and probably even staying. He was sitting next to her and petting Dog's head who was sitting besides his feet. The happiness made Connie confident and she wrote:

_Remember I wanted to ask you something, before we went out and found Lydia?_

Daryl saw the note and nodded.

_So, how about a date?_

She had to smile when she saw that slight panic in Daryl's eyes. But there was no going back, she had to know it now.  
Daryl wanted to say something but then he must have realized that Kelly and Lydia would hear it so he wrote:

_You want a date with me?_

Connie chuckled.

_I did ask YOU, didn't I?_

She could see how nervous Daryl was, when she gave him the notepad. He didn't write anything for a while and just tapped the pen on the paper leaving little dots on it. Connie started to think that he was thinking of a polite excuse, but then he finally wrote:

_When?_

Connie was relieved that he didn't rejected her offer.

_Tomorrow evening? _She wrote, overwhelmed by joy, which was filling her heart. She looked at him in anticipation and it felt like an eternity to her before she got a reaction from him. He was staring at her note like in disbelief, before he looked her in the eyes and finally nodded.


	11. Chapter 11 - Anticipation

As soon as they reached Hilltop, Daryl went to sleep. He was so exhausted, he could barely hold his eyes open. And still it wasn't a calm night for him. Nightmares were chasing him. He heard a woman screaming in his dream and he thought it was Michonne. He saw a kid with a knife before him and he saw himself stabbing a knife into the kid's throat. Blood splattered all over him. And then he suddenly saw Connie and realized it was her screaming and she had that expression in her eyes that said: _What have you done?_ Then he saw Lydia walking up behind her with a knife. He tried to scream and make a movement with his arms to warn her, but suddenly his lips wouldn't move and his arms either. He was scared stiff.  
Daryl woke up in cold sweat and disoriented. It took him a while until he realized he was in a trailer in Hilltop. Those nightmares were chasing him for a while after what happened back in the day, but some time ago they stopped. And now they were coming out of the dark corners, crawling back into his mind. He was sure it had to do something with Lydia. But was she really a threat or did he only saw her as a threat because of those bad memories? He closed his eyes and tried to think about something nice to forget those nightmares and Connie's face appeared before his inner eye. He tried to remember how it felt when they were holding hands and he tried to recreate the situation when she hugged him. He wanted to feel her warm arms around him again. And then he remembered how she asked him about a date on their way back. But what if everything what happened was a dream too? He nervously fumbled through his pocket and took out a note. It was the note where she asked him about a date. It was too dark to read, but he knew what was written there and his heart started to beat faster. So she really asked him. And he agreed. There was no going back now.  
He almost forgot about the bad dreams because his thoughts started revolving around the date. How would it be? Would he screw it up since he never had a real date before?  
Daryl heard Dog snoring and was envious of him. Sleep didn't come to Daryl until the first sunlight.

Connie woke up, early in the morning with a light feeling in her heart. She was happy and she was looking forward to her date with Daryl. She still couldn't believe he agreed to the date and part of her was afraid he would disappear before they met.  
Kelly was still sleeping and Lydia too, so she decided to let them sleep and went outside. She was greeted by some people who were up and working already. Connie went to see Luke and after she stayed with him for a while and told him everything about the fair, she went to Magna and Yumiko, who were helping at the pantry with the stuff people brought back from the fair.

"Oh, hello, how was the fair? I've heard you people had a blast," Magna told her after both Magna and Yumiko greeted her with a hug.

"It was fantastic, I've had a wonderful time," Connie signed and couldn't hide her grin.

"I'm glad about that," Yumiko signed. Then she handed Magna some boxes and Magna started arranging them.

"I've heard you found a kid back there," Yumiko told Connie.

"Yes, Daryl and I found her and then we brought her with us."

"Daryl and I... Aha," Yumiko repeated loudly and gave Magna who didn't catch the conversation a nudge.

"So you and caveman had a good time?" Magna asked Connie then.

Connie rolled her eyes. She thought about telling them about the date, but considered not to do so. They would find out soon enough. She helped them with the boxes and then they all went to work in the garden. After some time Connie saw Kelly and Lydia walking towards the infirmary with the ukulele. She could see before her inner eye, how Luke's face would lighten up when he saw the present and it warmed her heart. But after a couple of moments, Lydia suddenly ran out of the door. She looked around and seemed to be disoriented and then sat down with her back to a tree hugging her knees, like she wanted to make herself invisible. Connie frowned. She started walking towards her to see if she was okay, but then she saw Kelly running to Lydia. Kelly crouched down in front of Lydia and talked to her, but Connie couldn't make out the words. After that, Kelly sat down next to Lydia, putting an arm around her and Lydia leaned on her shoulder. Connie smiled. She was glad her sister found a good friend and that Lydia had somebody she trusted. Still, she decided to ask Kelly later what happened.  
In the afternoon Connie finally saw Daryl. He greeted her with a shy wave and she smiled. She thought about their date and what the best place would be to meet up. She knew when they came back, Jesus let Daryl stay in a trailer, where he had his privacy. She decided it would be best location for the date, since nobody would disturb them there. She wrote:

_Tonight after sunset in your trailer?_

After she made sure nobody saw them, she showed him the note. He read and nodded. They smiled at each other shortly and she touched his arm slightly, before he went away.

Daryl walked to the construction side, where he helped people to build a new house. He was still a bit tired and even though seeing Connie made him happy, it also brought back his nervousness. He worked almost the whole day without a pause. The work distracted him a little from his thoughts and even though it was cold outside, he was sweating a lot. When they finally decided to call it a day he looked down on his shirt, his dirty pants and boots and wondered if he should change his clothes for the date. People always dressed up nicely for dates, he knew that much. But he didn't have any other clothes. So he would have to go through the embarrassment to ask someone to lend him some. Jesus probably. But when Daryl saw him, he was afraid to ask him directly. Standing in the corner and biting his dirty nails, he finally decided to ask Tara, who was walking by.

"Do you think... um... I could get some fresh clothes?" He said, feeling how his face was turning red. Tara eyed him suspiciously.

"Sure, I ask Jesus," she answered.

"Thanks."

"You planning something special? I never saw you changing your clothes," she noticed.

Daryl looked in the meantime over to Connie, who was still working in the garden, and almost overheard what Tara said.

"It's nothing," he said absently.

Tara looked at him and when he finally looked at her, she gave him a knowing smile.

"If you say so. I'll be right back, wait here." She chuckled a little when she walked away.

Daryl was still standing there, biting his nails and looking at Connie now and then, who didn't seem to notice him. When he saw Tara in the distance, he walked to her. He looked around to see if anybody was looking at them, when she handed him the fresh clothes. She also gave him a dusty bottle of red wine.

"Here, have some fun," she told him with a smile and he made a scoffing sound.

"You will thank me later for this, trust me," Tara told him and gave him a wink, before she left. He looked at the bottle in his hand. Maybe the alcohol would help him to get over his nervousness. It was worth a try. He remembered that in movies, people often drank wine when they were on a date. It seemed to make them more at ease. Daryl wondered if his date with Connie would be like in one of those movies.

After working in the garden, Connie came back to their place. Before going into the shower she was thinking about what to wear. She wanted to look nice for Daryl, but she didn't possess any fancy clothes. She knew Yumiko had a beautiful white blouse, but if she asked her to lend it to her, she would probably had to tell her about the date. Connie took the white blouse out of the closet, but she wasn't sure what to do. Kelly came in and saw her holding that blouse.

"Planning something special tonight?" Kelly asked her. Connie waved her hand in denial and put the blouse back.

"Come on, I know you and Daryl have something going on. I'm not blind, I saw how you were exchanging notes on the way here."

Connie still wanted to deny it, she quickly changed the topic and asked if Lydia was alright.

Kelly looked behind her to the door.

"She's a bit messed up. We went to visit Luke and suddenly she freaked out and ran outside. Maybe she remembered something from her past. She wouldn't tell me what it was, though."

"Maybe I should try to..." Connie started to sign, but Kelly interrupted her, signing:

"No, I got this. You go to your date."

Connie rolled her eyes.

"It's not what you think."

"I take care of her, don't worry," Kelly continued. "Unless you need someone to interpret," she added.

Connie hastily shook her head.

"Alright then," Kelly signed and shrugged.

"And you really should wear that." She pointed to the white blouse. "It will look pretty on you and I think Yumiko won't mind."

Connie gave her a sign to go away, but couldn't hide her smile. She took a shower, then put on the blouse and one of her favorite jeans. Her heart was beating fast, she couldn't wait to see Daryl.

After Daryl took a quick shower and put the new clothes on his body which was partly still wet, he was so nervous, he felt like he had to vomit. The new clothes felt strange on him, they looked strange too and were uncomfortable. Even his vest felt strange above them. He thought about taking it off, but decided not to. It always has been his lucky charm. Not that he needed a lucky charm right now, but still... He retrieved Connie's note from his pocket and looked at it, like he did several times earlier this day already. He loved her notes. He was in love with basically everything about her, even her handwriting. This note was probably one of the most valuable things he possessed, but it couldn't help him with his nervousness. His throat felt awfully dry. He looked at the bottle of wine on the table and considered to take a sip. But then he decided to wait for Connie and drink some water instead. He was so nervous, his hands were even shaking a bit. Dog was watching him suspiciously, probably not knowing why his owner was so uneasy.

_Relax,_ Daryl told himself in his mind. _The word's gone to shit, we're living in a fucking apocalypse and you're nervous about a date? Pull yourself together!  
_

But he couldn't help it. He paced up and down in the trailer and his eyes went to the mirror, hanging on the wall. He saw his reflection. He was so clean and wearing unusual clothes. This wasn't him. Why did people even do that? Dressing up for a date? Connie knew him already, she saw him at his worst, so why was he still trying to impress her?

The sun set and he knew he would see her soon. He didn't feel like he was ready for it, but there was no going back now. He sat down on the couch and waited, while he was nervously playing with the note in his hands. He looked around. The old trailer, he called his home now, wasn't the prettiest location. The table, the chairs, the couch, and even the mirror, everything looked dusty and old. He put a couple of candles on the table next to the bottle of wine. Would Connie feel comfortable here? He couldn't imagine them sitting at the table like the couples in the movies, drinking wine. If he wouldn't be holding the prove in his hands, he would have never believed that it was truly going to happen. That he had a date with Connie. That she probably felt the same as he did for her.

Some time passed and Connie still didn't show up. What if she would never come? What if she changed her mind? What if she...

But then he heard someone knocking on the door and he stood up to open it.


	12. Chapter 12 - The Date

Daryl's heart was beating fast as he opened the door. Connie was standing there and he thought she looked beautiful. She was wearing a thin white blouse and a tight blue jeans. The sight of her almost took his breath away. Connie smiled when she noticed that Daryl was wearing new clothes. They looked unusual on him, but she liked them. She put the basket with food, she brought with her, on the table and she gave him an approving nod, when she saw the candles and the bottle of wine standing there. Daryl thanked Tara in his mind for the wine, when he saw that Connie liked it. Dog seemed to be excited about the visitor too, he ran around like crazy.

Connie wrote to Daryl: _You look good_.

As soon as Daryl read her note he felt a little embarrassed that she noticed he dressed up and mumbled a: "You too."

Connie couldn't make out what he had said, but she was sure he also wanted to say that she looked nice. He pointed to the chairs and they sat down, opposite to each other.

"So … um ... how was your day?" Daryl asked shyly. Dog was still excited, and ran around the table. Daryl told him to calm down, but Dog didn't listen and before Connie could write down her answer, Dog bumped into one of the table legs and the bottle of wine tipped over and was rolling towards the edge of the table. Daryl's finger touched it, but he wasn't fast enough to grab it. The bottle fell off the table and shattered on the floor.

"Bad dog!" Daryl shouted and Dog, knowing by the tone of his owner that he must have done something wrong, wined and lay down in the corner. Connie couldn't help laughing when she saw this. She got a lump and started helping Daryl to clean up the mess. Daryl was on his knees, collecting the shards.

"Sorry," he muttered. "Seems like Dog's excited about this date too," Daryl told her, just to say something. Then he realized that he admitted he was excited about the date and felt how his face turned slightly red. But seeing Connie smiling at this, made him feel a little bit better. He collected the shards, while watching her cleaning up the wine. His eyes went from her face to the blouse she was wearing. It was a little transparent and he could see her bra. It was a nice sight, but he told himself to stop looking at her like that. Then he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his hand, as he cut it on one of the shards.

"Damn it," he said and put the bleeding side of his hand in his mouth, to lick off the blood.

Connie felt sorry for him and made a sign to show him the wound, but he shook his head.

"It's not so bad," he told her, but Connie didn't accept it. She got up and helped him to get up too, pointing to the couch. Daryl obeyed. She got an antiseptic and a bandage out of her bag, which she was always carrying with her, just in case, and started treating Daryl's wound. He watched her closely and remembered how she treated his wound once already. When she finished bandaging his hand, Connie saw that she got some of the blood on her blouse and there was also a wine stain. She realized that now she would definitely have to tell Yumiko about the date.

Daryl saw how the look on her face changed when she saw the stains and he gave her an apologizing look. Connie made a movement with her hand, telling him it was alright, but she could see that he still felt bad. She wrote:

_Good that Dog didn't knock down the candles too, or your trailer would be on fire now._

She gave him an encouraging smile and he smiled too. Daryl felt bad about everything that happened. Their date didn't start yet and it was a joke already. No, it was nothing like a romantic movie. Maybe more like a comedy. He looked at his bandage and then at Connie.

"Reminds me of the last time you bandaged my hand," he told her showing his hand.

_Only that back then I thought you didn't like me much,_ she wrote.

"You were wrong, though." Daryl said staring at her face. Connie grinned as she wrote:

_So you liked me back then?_

Daryl made a movement with his head which could mean "maybe" or "I don't know", she couldn't tell for sure.

Daryl thought about their talk back then in the cabin in the woods. Connie was still waiting for a clearer answer, but he was too ashamed to admit it. His throat felt dry again.

"Did you like ME back then?" He asked her instead, after a while because he didn't know what else to say. Connie's nod and big smile gave him butterflies. Their hands touched again and then they looked each other deep in the eyes.

_I liked you too,_ he wanted to say, but like in his nightmare his lips wouldn't move. He repeated it over and over again in his mind, but couldn't make his lips say it. Or should he maybe just kiss her? She was so close to him. But again his lips didn't obey. His heart was beating so fast he thought it would break his chest. Connie couldn't take her eyes off of him, she thought he would kiss her and her heart beat in anticipation.

Suddenly Daryl heard a knocking on the door.

He was disappointed and relieved at once to be able to escape the intense situation.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you, but..."

When Connie saw her sister in the door, she came closer. She knew Kelly wouldn't disturb them if it wasn't something important.

Kelly breathed out.

"Lydia is gone."

"How do you mean 'she's gone'?" Daryl asked and Connie frowned.

"I don't know. I lost her out of sight for some time and then I couldn't find her anywhere. She was upset the whole day through, barely said anything. And now she's just gone."

"You think she left Hilltop?" Connie signed.

"Maybe, I don't know."

Daryl looked at them signing to each other and said then:

"We go look for her."

"Let me go with you," Kelly told him.

"No, you stay here."

"But..." Kelly began, but Connie told her in sign language to stay too.

"We bring her back", She signed and patted her shoulder. Kelly didn't want to let them go alone, but then she finally agreed to stay.

They let Dog sniff at one of Lydia's shirts and he ran to the fence. He stopped before it a big storage box near the fence.

"Good boy," Daryl said and tried to climb on the storage box, but Connie held him back pointing at it.

They opened it and saw that it wasn't a storage box at all, but a secret exit. Daryl wondered how Lydia knew about it, since even he didn't know. They went outside and started the search.

Dog was leading the way and soon they found Lydia's tracks in the woods

"She came here through", Daryl said inspecting the footprints on the ground and Connie nodded. They killed a couple of walkers on their way and shortly after that they saw a silhouette in the distance hiding against a tree. They recognized Lydia and Connie wanted to go to her, but this time Daryl held her back and pointed with his finger into the distance. In between the trees there were a couple of walkers and it looked like they invaded a little camp.

Connie wanted to run to Lydia again, but Daryl still held her back.

"Stop! We have to be careful."

Connie pointed into the distance to the walkers, she was afraid that Lydia would do something reckless.

"No. Watch." Daryl pointed into the distance again and Connie watched closer. Soon she saw that the walkers acted strangely and their movements resembled more those of living people. Connie looked at Daryl and he nodded.

"I don't think that's walkers," he told her.

Lydia started to move cautiously towards the camp. Daryl and Connie followed her. Connie became more and more afraid for the girl, and Daryl told her:

"Let's go get her," He told Connie, who nodded. They sneaked up on Lydia and Daryl grabbed her, putting his hand against her mouth, so she wouldn't scream.

Then he dragged her back with him until the three of them were in a secure distance from the walker camp. As soon as he let her go, Lydia tried to run away, but Daryl didn't let her, by grabbing her arm and when she opened her mouth he told her in a dangerously calm voice:

"You scream and I promise you gonna regret it." Which made calm down and be silent.  
His thought about his nightmare came back again and he couldn't help it, but see Lydia as a traitor. She looked at him in fear. Connie saw the whole scene, but she didn't dare to do anything, partly afraid, it was her fault, they brought Lydia with them, if she really was a traitor.

She looked at Daryl questioningly and her looks told him: _What are we going to do now?_

"We bring her back. And then she will tell us everything." He didn't let go of Lydia's arm as they went back to the Hilltop. It was night already and most people were sleeping, but Kelly was still waiting for them at the gate. As soon as they came in, Kelly came running to them. Daryl ignored her, dragging Lydia with him and Kelly didn't understand what was going on, seeing the angry look on his face and the way he was holding Lydia's arm. Connie saw the concerned look on her sister's face and tried to calm her down.

Lydia stopped walking and Daryl shouted at her.

"Leave her alone, she's okay!" Kelly shouted at Daryl, trying to free Lydia from his grab. But he didn't listen and just ignored her. He brought Lydia down into a cellar, put her into a cell and locked the door.

"You're with those masked people, ain't you?" Daryl asked her then, but Lydia wouldn't answer.

"Well, sooner or later you will tell us. No more bullshit. Until then you stay here," Daryl screamed at her. Lydia moved back from him giving him a scared look.

"Stop it, you're scaring her!" Kelly shouted at Daryl, pushing him away from the cell.

"She just puts on a show, don't you see that?" He told Kelly but she only gave him an angry look.

"You don't know that!" Kelly told him.

"Yes, I do... She was spying on us and now she went to tell her people about us, ain't it so Miss Runaway?" Daryl wanted to come closer again to the cell, but Kelly moved in his way.

"She's been just too long out there alone, she's scared and she doesn't know what you are talking about," Kelly continued and looked at Connie signing at her that she should do something too. Connie signed back that she wasn't sure about Lydia. She felt bad for the girl and still couldn't tell if Daryl was right or not. Daryl who was looking at her, thought she took Kelly's side.

"Oh come on, you're falling for it too?" He asked her. Connie just shrugged.

"But you saw 'em... Those masked people.. Hell they're not far away from here. They for sure planing something and she knows it." He pointed at Lydia.

_Maybe we should all calm down and try to find out what's going on tomorrow, _Connie wrote finally.

"Fine," Daryl said and again it came out louder than he intended. "But Miss Spy here stays in the cell, you're not letting her out."

"You can't decide that, you're not the leader here," Kelly told him. Daryl looked at her angrily, he knew he was going to lose his temper again.

"She stays here." He told her in a firm voice and then walked away.

He stormed out and went to his trailer followed by Dog, then slammed the door shut. He sat down on the couch covering his head with his hands. He blamed himself for bringing Lydia along and now maybe the community was in danger, with those masked people almost at their gates. He looked up. The smell of wine was still lingering in the air and suddenly he thought about Connie again.

"Great date," he mumbled.

So he really screwed it up. He remembered how Connie looked at him, when he was shouting at Lydia and Kelly. _It's not a good move to argue with the sister of the woman you like_, he thought and he regretted that he has been acting like that. Now Connie probably didn't like him anymore. He lay down, staring at the dark ceiling and trying to focus on the new danger. He would have to talk to Jesus and Tara in the morning. And they really had to find out what Lydia knew about those people.

In the meantime Connie was still in the cellar with Kelly who refused to go back with her until they got Lydia free. They didn't have the key for the cell and Connie thought it would be the best to wait until the next morning to solve the matter.

"Great, your boyfriend locks her up and that's okay?" Kelly told her.

"He's not my..." Connie began to sign, but seeing the angry look on Kelly's face, she realized it had no use.

"I go get you a blanket and pillow," she told her then and left.

On her way to the house she looked at Daryl's trailer and asked herself if she should go and talk to him. He seemed to be so angry. Maybe he didn't like her anymore since she persuaded him to bring Lydia with them, who was a potential threat now. She also felt bad that their date didn't work out. She didn't realize it first, but she was walking towards his trailer. Before she knocked on his door she paused and took out her notepad.

_I'm sorry how things turned out. And also about Lydia. I thought she was a good girl… I still do, somehow. _

She stopped writing for a moment to think about what to write next.

_You must know, I've been looking forward to this date and maybe we can try it again sometime?  
If you don't want to, I'll understand. But if you do, you know where to find me._  
_\- Connie_

She folded the note, slipped it under the door and went away.

Daryl sat up as soon as he saw the note and ran to the door as fast as he could. He picked the note up and he knew the it was from Connie. It had to be. Was she telling him that she didn't want to see him again? She would have come in otherwise, wouldn't she? He twisted the folded note in his hands not daring to open and read it, so it would become real. The thought of losing Connie was making his heart sting. Instead of reading the note he opened the door and went outside. He saw Connie walking away and shouted: "Hey!" before he realized she wouldn't hear him. So he went after her and softly touched her shoulder, making her turn around.

"I got your note," he said then showing her the note. He paused for a moment, trying to find the right words.

"Look, I know I screwed it up, all of it... the date and then Lydia and Kelly... I just wanted to..." Daryl paused, still trying hard to find the right words

Connie was surprised and happy that he came after her. She wanted to tell him that, but as soon as she moved her hand to take out her notepad, he stopped her.

"No, wait." Daryl took a deep breath.

"You see, I'm not good at dates and stuff and maybe you don't like me anymore, but... I care about you." He was looking her in the eyes and she was reading every word he said. When he told her, that he cared about her, she felt tears were coming up in her eyes and she didn't know why. Maybe because she cared about him a lot too. She didn't even know how to express it, so instead writing anything, she just came closer to him and put her arms around him while leaning with her head on his chest. Daryl felt happy and relieved about the hug, realizing that he was wrong and she still seemed to like him. He put his arms around her too.

They stood like that for a moment before she looked up to him. Their faces were so close to each other and Daryl couldn't stop staring at her, her beautiful dark eyes and her full lips. Deep in his mind something told him, he had to taste her lips or he would never be able to find sleep again. Connie could see how he was staring at her lips, the hunger was visible in his eyes and she told him in her mind over and over again, to kiss her, until he really moved closer and kissed her tenderly. She could feel his beard scratching her skin a little bit, but she enjoyed the soft touch of his lips. Daryl felt a pleasant warmth driving through his body while he was kissing her. His kiss was cautious and tender, but then some kind of primal force took over and he started to kiss her with more passion. Connie felt how her knees were getting weak when Daryl's kiss became more passionate. She gave in, let him devour her completely and the world around them disappeared for a moment. Daryl was drowning in her. He pulled her closer, so he could feel her body against his. She was like a light, driving through every dark corner of him, healing him with its warmth. He couldn't get enough of her. When they finally parted and reality got them back, they were smiling at each other, both thinking, that this was a perfect ending for an imperfect date.


	13. Chapter 13 - Disclosure

Daryl's head was spinning. The smell of wine still lingered on in his trailer, but it wasn't that what made him feel dizzy. It was the kiss. Daryl could still feel the touch of Connie's soft lips on his, when he closed his eyes and it sent warm, pleasant chills down his spine. His mind was racing. He thought of Connie, her touch, her smell and how much she cared about him. Somewhere in a dark corner of his mind there were also some unpleasant thoughts about what happened with Lydia before the kiss and his argument with Kelly. But he tried to push them away. He was aware of the danger, but in that moment he was feeling so good, like he never did for a long time and he fell asleep with a smile on his face.

Connie went to get a pillow and a blanket for her sister in the meantime. She felt like she was floating over the ground. Her heart was still beating fast, her lips prickled and she had butterflies in her belly. She couldn't remember when she felt like this the last time, it must have been a long time ago. She tried to calm herself, tried to tell herself there were more important things to think about. But still she couldn't erase the smile on her lips, when she went to her sister.

Kelly gave her a grim look, when she saw her. Lydia was sitting on the bed in her cell, arms around her knees, while Kelly sat on the floor with her back to the wall. Connie offered her the pillow and blanket as a peace treaty, but Kelly took it reluctantly and turned her head away from her. Connie touched her shoulder softly.

"Just leave us alone," Kelly signed. Connie shook her head. She sat down next to Kelly and touched her shoulder again.

Kelly gave her another angry look.

"You don't have to answer, but please let me explain." Connie stared at her and tried not to lose her patience when she saw how Kelly rolled her eyes. Despite of this her sister was still looking at her, so Connie began to tell her what she and Daryl saw when they caught up to Lydia.

"You see, he's just worried about his community and so am I. If she really is with those people who attacked us, it could mean danger for all of us," she signed when she was finished with her story.

"She isn't like that," Kelly signed stubbornly.

"You don't know that. You don't know her. No one really does. I know, you have some sort of feelings for her."

Kelly tried to deny it, but Connie stopped her.

"I know you and I saw it. But you know, feelings can make you blind sometimes."

"And what about you?" Kelly asked suddenly. "And your feelings for Daryl?"

"This is different."

"No it isn't. How do you know you can trust him. How do you know he won't leave again tomorrow and never come back? I saw how broken you were last time when he left. He maybe saved us, but he's still not a reliable person when it comes to this. And I don't trust him with her. He doesn't know how it feels to be abandoned."

Connie could see the hurt in Kelly's eyes. The last sentence came out of nowhere and she wondered if Lydia reminded Kelly of her own sad past and how her parents abandoned her. It hurt Connie too to think about it and her heart stung at the thought that Daryl could leave her again.

Kelly put the blanket over her knees and looked at Lydia. Connie knew she couldn't do anything right now. She gave her sister a hug and left.

The light feeling in her heart was overshadowed by this conversation. Still she tried to stay positive.

On the next day, when Daryl left his trailer, he saw Kelly coming out of the cellar.

She looked angrily in his direction and his first impulse was to ignore her. But he decided to apologize.

"Um... about yesterday," he began, when he caught up to her and Kelly crossed her arms before her chest.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to… I'm sorry." Daryl had troubles to find the right words and he hoped Kelly would understand it.

"So you will let her out?" Kelly asked not reacting to his apologies.

"What? Hell no!" Daryl answered, but when he saw how Kelly turned around and started to walk away, he put a hand on her arm.

"Hey, let me talk to Tara and Jesus first, okay? Maybe we can figure something out."

Kelly rolled her eyes. He looked at her and hoped she would take his offer. She sighed.

"Fine," Kelly said. "But you're wrong about Lydia, and when you finally figure this out, I expect you to apologize to her."

"I will," Daryl promised her, relieved that she seemed to give in. She nodded and started to walk away. But then stopped and turned around.

"My sister really cares about you. So if you ever leave her again, I swear I will find you wherever you are and make you regret it."

Daryl couldn't help but smile at this.

"I'm serious about it, Mister!" Kelly told him in a grave voice.

"I know," Daryl said. "I know."

He went to met up with Jesus and Tara who were both very concerned. They decided to put up more guards and they also talked about sending someone out, to find out more about those people, but they weren't sure if this was a good idea.

"The girl is our best shot. Unfortunately she ain't saying much..." Daryl finally said.

"So what we gonna do? Just wait?" Tara asked.

"We can't leave her locked up forever," Jesus said.

"No. We keep her there till she talks. We just have to make her," Daryl told them.

"And how are we going to do this?" Tara sounded worried and nobody answered.

Connie saw Daryl coming out from one of the houses with Tara and Jesus. She suddenly had the strange urge to run to him and kiss him. She wanted to feel his lips again. But she knew she couldn't do it in front of all those people. She waited until Jesus and Tara were gone and then she went to Daryl.

He greeted her with the biggest smile she ever saw on his lips.

"Hey," he said. Connie made a movement with her head in Tara's and Jesus' direction and Daryl followed them with his eyes.

"I talked to them. We'll put up more guards on watch. And we have to figure out what to do with the girl."

Connie frowned and Daryl touched her shoulder.

"It'll be okay," he promised her and she nodded. His touch felt nice. He was staring into her eyes and then his eyes went down to her lips. She wondered if he also longed to kiss her again and she sensed a pleasant feeling in her stomach at this thought. She looked around and noticed that there were too many people around them. But then she saw a spot behind one of the houses where nobody would see them. She took Daryl's hand and he followed, looking back at all the people behind them, who didn't pay attention to them.

When they reached the hidden spot he said:

"What are you..." But he couldn't finish the sentence when Connie put a finger on his lips to make him stop talking. Her heart was beating so fast, it almost broke her chest as she came closer, closed her eyes and put her lips against his. A worried thought hit her at once. What if it was too much for him, what if he didn't like her being so perky? But in the next second this thought disappeared when Daryl passionately answered her kiss. They kissed until they ran out of breath and had to part for a moment. Daryl was half smiling half looking at her questioningly.

_Sorry it just came over me,_ she wrote and gave him an innocent look.

"You're driving me crazy, you know that?" Daryl answered, still smiling and breathing heavily. He took her chin in his hand and gently lifted it. Then he leaned over her again, closing his eyes. His instincts were taking over again and he let it happen. Let all the thoughts escape his mind and just followed his emotions. His hand moved on to her neck, tenderly touching her hair when he kissed her again. He dipped his tongue past her lips, caressing her tongue with his and she felt dizzy and slightly aroused as they continued kissing like that. She pushed closer, since she couldn't get enough of his passionate kisses and her body craved him. But then he suddenly pushed her away. He put the back of his hand against his mouth like he wanted to hide the fact that he kissed her. Connie turned around and saw Magna and Yumiko standing not far away from them. They were staring and them and smiling. Connie looked back at Daryl, whose face was suddenly red like a tomato and she thought that Magna probably said something embarrassing. Yumiko pulled Magna away and as they walked away they were giggling.

Connie gave Daryl an apologizing look. He looked deeply ashamed, but tried to smile at her.

When Connie met up with her friends later, she tried to act like nothing happened, but she knew there was no way to escape their comments on her, kissing Daryl.

They all were silent for a while and Connie almost thought that maybe they won't say anything at all, but then Magna broke the silence:

"So you and caveman were getting it on?"

Connie rolled her eyes.

"It was just an innocent kiss," she told her.

"And yesterday? Something tells me it there was an innocent bottle of wine involved too," Yumiko said with a smile.

Connie felt her face heating up a bit. She knew what her friends were thinking and even though it wasn't true she felt a bit ashamed.

"I'm sorry about your blouse, I will wash it," she signed trying to change the topic.

"Don't worry about it honey," Yumiko told her.

"I'm happy for you," she added then after a moment. "I just hope he treats you well."

Connie smiled thankfully.

"Yeah, he better does. We will kick his ass otherwise, I hope he knows that," Magna told her.

Connie smiled and nodded. Even though she was annoyed by her friends teasing her about Daryl sometimes, she was happy for them being so protective of her.

It took Daryl a while to get his head straight. The kisses were so intense, his mind and body were longing for more all the time, even though he didn't see Connie after that all day, the only thing he could think of, was her. He was working on building the house again, but it took him almost the whole day until he could think about something else than Connie. In the late afternoon when he saw the people with concerned looks on their faces and all the additional guards, he finally started to think about the danger. He was anxious, since they still didn't know what to do and if they had to expect an attack or not, so he decided to go and see Lydia again.

As soon as she saw him she went into a corner and sat down with a scared look on her face.

Daryl watched her for a while before he came closer.

"You can quit putting on a show. Ain't anyone here but me."

Lydia looked around nervously.

"What do you want from me?" She asked him in and her voice sounded more confident now.

"What I want?"

He came closer.

"I want you to tell me the fucking truth. You're with those people ain't ya?"

Lydia was silent, but then she came closer and grabbed the bars of her cell.

"And if I was? How in hell is it going to help you?" She said and her voice was almost a whisper.

"Just tell me the truth. Your people will attack us?" Daryl said, trying to stay calm, but Lydia said nothing.

He felt anger rising up in him, he turned around and paced back and forth.

"Fine. You don't care about anyone of them people out there." His voice was loud and he pointed with his finger outside.

"And you sure as hell don't care about me," he continued. "But what about Kelly and Connie?" Daryl could see something in Lydia's face expression changed, but she still was silent.

"Connie saved your lying ass. She brought you here, gave you a chance. And Kelly. That girl cares about you. And you will just let her die?"

Lydia lowered her eyes.

"It's no use," she said scarcely audible.

"What did you say?"

Daryl came closer. His look suddenly went to her arm. The sleeve of her shirt rolled up a bit and he could see some bruises on her arm.

Lydia saw how he looked at her arm and she quickly went away from the bars and hid the bruises with her hand.

"Just... Just leave me alone," she told him when she went back to her bed.

Daryl stared at her for a moment before he decided to leave.

When he went away he heard her voice and what she said made him shiver.

"You won't be able to save them, you know. They will die. All of them. Sooner or later all of them will die."


	14. Chapter 14 - Fear

When Connie saw her sister coming back to their room she inspected her face closely, to see if Kelly was still mad at her. She had the impression that her sister didn't look that angry anymore, but it was probably because she was tired. Connie approached Kelly cautiously.

"Should I put on my armor for round two or are we good now?" She signed to Kelly.

Kelly looked at her and it seemed to Connie that her sister was trying hard to hide a smile. She stared at her for a moment and then signed slowly: "We're good."

Connie was relieved and wanted to hug her, but Kelly moved away from her.

"But what's not good is that Lydia is still locked up," she signed and the expression on her face was serious again.

Connie nodded.

"I will talk to Daryl about it."

Kelly shook her head.

"I already did. He said he would see what he could do about it, whatever that means."

Connie couldn't hide a smile. She felt relieved that Daryl and Kelly seemed to have reconciled.

"So you're not mad at him anymore?" Connie asked her.

"Of course I am, for how he treated Lydia," Kelly signed. But then she paused.

"But he seems to treat you good, at least, since you have this annoying smile on your face all the time. So, I will see if I can forgive him. Can't promise anything, though."

Connie hugged Kelly this time, who wasn't quick enough to escape her arms.

In the meantime Daryl left the cellar.

He deeply hated the worrisome feeling which was rising in his gut and he couldn't do anything about it. What Lydia said and how she said it made his blood turn cold. His head brought back memories of all the close people to him he had lost already and now his mind was trying to put Connie in there too. He went to the big house where he found Jesus and told him that he tried to talk to Lydia again, but there wasn't any progress.

"We send out some lookouts, people are starting to get worried."

Daryl nodded. He didn't like the idea of their people going out there, but they had to know more about the danger.

"Maybe I should go too," he suggested, but Jesus stopped him.

"You don't have to." And when he saw that Daryl wanted to protest he continued: "It's okay, they will only watch them first and not approach. We don't want to provoke a conflict."

"What about the girl?" Daryl asked then, since he promised it to Kelly.

"What do you think? Is she a threat?"

Daryl thought about it for a moment.

"Probably not as much as her people are."

"Then we should let her out, maybe?"

Suddenly they were interrupted by someone who had an urgent matter he had to discuss with Jesus.

"I leave this decision to you, since you have a good judgement of people," Jesus told Daryl before he left.

Daryl wandered through the house, lost in his thoughts and not knowing what to do as he found himself in a room full of books. It was a room they used as a library, but since they have found too many books and there weren't enough shelves in the room, some of the books were lying on the floor and some were in baskets. Daryl went through the books, while taking some of them in his hands and putting them back, still lost in his thoughts.

Suddenly a little worn out book caught his sight. He picked it up and its cover said:

**American Sign Language for Dummies**

He flicked through it and looked at the pictures which showed how certain things were signed, and a faint smile hit his lips. He thought of Connie and the possibility to talk to her in her own language. Maybe some day she wouldn't have to use her notepad and to read his lips anymore. The book distracted Daryl from the negative thoughts, so he went outside and sat down on a table while reading it.

Connie saw Daryl in the distance. She couldn't see what he was doing, it almost looked like he was reading a book. As soon as he saw her he made a strange movement, he stood up and sat down again.

She greeted him with a beaming smile and he smiled and nodded.

Are you busy? She wrote.

"Nah, just sitting here, thinking about stuff."

Connie sat down next to him.

Lydia?

"Uh huh," Daryl said and nodded.

Will you let her out?

Daryl looked her in the eyes, but didn't answer.

"I don't know. You sister want me to."

I know. She trusts her. She thinks Lydia was abandoned.

Connie thought about adding Like me and Kelly were, but hesitated. She wasn't sure if Daryl wanted to know her life story right now and she didn't like to think about it much herself.

"I think she was abandoned. But maybe not in the way you sister think she was," Daryl told her.

Connie narrowed her eyebrows, but Daryl didn't explain it any further. Instead he smiled again as he stared at her face. His hand went up to her hair and played with one of her curls. Looking in his eyes and feeling his touch, left a fluttering feeling in Connie's stomach again.

Then his stare moved on to her lips and they shared another long, passionate kiss.

Daryl felt a slight disappointment when Connie went away. She still had some work to do and he didn't like how he never knew when they would see each other again. Living in the same community and seeing each other often didn't feel like it was enough anymore. He would have loved to be around her all the time but he also knew that it was impossible. When she disappeared in the distance he took out the book he was sitting on the whole time. At least he could use the time when they didn't see each other to learn some ASL. He didn't want her to know about it yet, because he longed to see her face when he would sign to her for the first time. But before he would continue with his studies he had something else to do.

He went back to the cellar, where Lydia looked at him suspiciously. He took a chair and sat down in front of her cell.

"Being scared isn't a nice feeling. I know that." He saw that he had Lydia's attention, so he continued.

"My father was a dick, used to beat me up a lot."

Daryl took a deep breath. Talking about his past, even after all those years wasn't easy.

"But you know what the worst part was? Not knowing when it will happen. To always be afraid of it. This fear, that's the worst part."

"Why are you telling me all this?" Lydia asked in an insecure voice.

Daryl stood up and put his hand in his pocket and got something out of it. The movement made Lydia move back from the cell door.

"I think you know pretty well how that feels, don't ya?"

He put the key, he got out of his pocket into the lock and opened the cell door. Lydia moved back till her back was pressed against the wall. Her eyes were open wide.

"So ask yourself if you want to put people who care about you through that too."

They looked each other in the eyes, before Daryl left, leaving the door of her cell open.

He still had that uneasy feeling in his gut letting Lydia out. But seeing the fear in her eyes and knowing about her bruises made him think even more that she was just an abused kid, like he was once and that she needed someone to put her on the right path. Locking her up wasn't the solution.

He entered his trailer where he was greeted by Dog. He ate some dinner while studying the ASL book.

When Connie returned to her room she was more than surprised to see Lydia sitting next to Kelly. Lydia was crying and Kelly comforted her by softly petting her back. Connie and her sister shared a look and Connie felt relieved and a faint smile touched her lips.


	15. Chapter 15 - Secrets

Connie put a blanket on Lydia, who has finally fell asleep. Then she asked Kelly what happened.

"She didn't say much", Kelly signed to her. "She tried to tell me about something, I think it was about the people she was with, but then she started crying and her words didn't make any sense."

Connie nodded. She felt sorry for Lydia, who must have been through some horrible things, and she was glad Daryl let her out. The girl was messed up and they couldn't help her if they kept her locked up there. It was a good sign that she came to Kelly after she was free. Connie hoped Lydia would let them help her instead of running away again.

Daryl woke up in the early morning, as the ASL book, which was lying on his chest, slipped down to the floor. After rubbing his eyes he stood up, went to the sink and quickly washed his face. He looked into the dirty mirror and tried to do some signs he remembered. It felt awkward to use his hands to talk and he couldn't help but think he looked ridiculous while he watched himself in the mirror. All of the sudden he remembered his dream from last night. His father and Merle were both there. He was young again and he was learning for a test at school while both of them were mocking him about wanting to learn something to impress his female teacher.

What would Connie think of him if she knew that he never finished High School? Or if she knew about his messed up, racist family? Or that he never accomplished anything big in his life? There were so many things she didn't know about him. The thought that he didn't deserve her crossed his mind again and he had a hard time to get rid of it. But she wanted to be with him and there was no going back now. All he could do was to try to be a better man for her, someone she truly deserves. He picked up the book again and tried to focus on memorizing some signs and repeating them in front of the mirror.  
His brother appeared before his inner eye again, mocking him about having to learn from books how to communicate with women.  
"It ain't science little brother, just fuck her and leave her," Daryl heard his brother's voice in his head.  
"Oh god, shut up," Daryl told him loudly, hitting the wall near the mirror with his fist. He looked into at the book and then into mirror again, but couldn't focus on learning the signs anymore.  
He decided to go outside and get some work done, hoping he could get rid of the negative thoughts.

When Connie woke up, she saw her sister being up already and she went to her.

"Were you up all night?" She signed.

"No, just woke up about an hour ago." Kelly looked at Lydia who was still sleeping. "Do you think she will run away again?" She asked.

"I don't know. I hope she knows she's safe with us," Connie signed with a smile.

"You know, back then... sometimes I wanted to run away too."

Connie knew that Kelly was talking about their past and she felt a sting in her heart. She sat down beside her sister and put a hand on her shoulder. Connie still tried to smile, but her lips were trembling.

"All that yelling and mom telling dad so many times she can't do it anymore... I just couldn't stand to hear that." Connie saw Kelly tearing up and had a hard time to hold her tears back too.

"But after it happened, you know, after dad left and mom couldn't take care of us alone and we had to live with other people... I just wanted us to be back with them. I wanted mom and dad back, no matter how bad it was with them. Isn't that weird?"

Connie shook her head still fighting the tears.

"It's not. They were our family, the only real family we knew. I had the same thoughts for a while," she signed.

"Maybe it's the same with Lydia. Maybe she wants back to her family, but they aren't good for her."

"I think you could be right."

"I don't want to lose her."

"You won't," Connie told her and hugged her sister. After so many years, their past was still haunting them both. She couldn't believe how much it still hurt to think about it. But Connie was thankful that at least they still had each other.

Daryl was chopping wood for some time. It was exhausting, but it helped him to finally get his mind clear. As he stopped and wiped the sweat off his brow, he could feel that someone was watching him. When he turned around he was surprised to see Lydia.

Daryl looked at her and they both didn't know what to say for a moment.

"Why did you let me out?" She suddenly asked and Daryl was glad she broke the silence. He didn't know how to act around her. The suspiciousness was still there, but now it was mixed with something new. He started to feel protective towards her.

"Figured it's no longer use to hold you locked up there."

"So you suddenly trust me now?" Lydia said in a snarky tone.

Daryl made a scoffing sound. But when he looked at her he couldn't help but thinking again of how much she reminded him of himself in the earlier days, when he pretended not to care about what people thought about him.

"I don't know, should I?"

"Maybe you shouldn't have brought me here in the first place."

"Why?"

"The people who attacked you in the woods. I was with them," Lydia said after a pause. "Alpha told us to go after your people and get rid of them all, but when you came and killed all of our people, I panicked and ran away. I knew I couldn't return to Alpha after that. That's why I spyed on you and was hoping to get more information, so she would let me come back."

Daryl narrowed his eyes. He knew Lydia was telling the truth

"So will you tell them that?" Lydia continued. "Tell them that you were right and I was spying on you all?"

"Who is Alpha? She's your leader?" Daryl asked ignoring Lydia's question.

Lydia averted her eyes and looked at the ground.

"She's my mom."

Daryl's heart was heavy when he heard this. He make a step towards Lydia, who was still avoiding his eyes.

"The bruises on your arm, she did that to you?"

Lydia intuitively covered her arm with her hand, even though her shirt hid the bruises.

"Why would you care? Didn't you listen? I was with the people who attacked you. You should throw me out. Or lock me up again, or..." Lydia's voice broke. She wanted to run away, but Daryl held her back.

"Is that what you really want?" he asked her, but Lydia didn't say anything.

"Listen, your mom is treating you like shit and you probably think you deserve it. But you don't."

Lydia looked him in the eyes and Daryl continued:

"The people here? They care about you. Can't tell you they will be happy to learn you attacked them or spyed on them. But they ain't gonna throw you out for telling the truth. They tried to help you. Maybe you can help them to."

Daryl let go of her arm and he could see in her expression that she was thinking about his words as she went away.

After another hour of hard work Daryl returned to his trailer. He was exhausted, but he still wanted to go on with his ASL lessons. When he looked at the chair where he left the book, it wasn't there anymore. He searched the trailer and couldn't find it. Dog wasn't anywhere either. Daryl went outside and saw his fury friend on the ground with the ASL book lying in the grass before him.

"Great, you're learning ASL now?" Daryl asked in a sarcastic tone. "Maybe I should get you an ASL book for dogs then."

Daryl wanted to pick up the book, but Dog was quicker. He picked it up with his teeth and ran away from him.

"Hey, give it back! I'm not playing!" Daryl shouted. He caught up to Dog and grabbed the book, but Dog didn't let go of it until he shouted: "Dog, Out!"

When Daryl retrieved it, the cover was full with Dog's saliva and there were some prints of his teeth on the cover too.

"Great. Thanks," Daryl said shaking his head and cleaning the cover on his pants. Dog seemed not to feel guilty and answered with a cheerful bark. Daryl glanced at him and shook his head again. Suddenly Dog stood up and ran away, and as Daryl turned around he saw Connie walking up to him.

Connie was smiling as Dog ran to her and greeted her, she petted his head and walked towards Daryl, who obviously hid something behind his back as he saw her approaching.

_Okay, confess, what are you hiding? _She wrote and showed him the note, raising an eyebrow.

She couldn't hide a grin as Daryl looked nervously to the side, trying to assure her it was nothing. She tried to peek behind him, but Daryl took a step back. Connie laughed and approached, touching his arm while trying to take a peek behind his back again. Daryl smiled nervously and pushed her softly away with one hand while still hiding the book behind his back with the other. Dog appeared to be on Connie's side. he went behind Daryl and started to pull on book with his teeth.

"Oh Dog, not again! Stop! Out!", Daryl shouted at him, but Dog wouldn't listen this time. Connie pushed closer to Daryl, she held Daryl's arm with one hand while trying to grab the book he was hiding behind his back with the other one. Daryl took another step back, but since Dog was there Daryl stumbled and fell. Connie, who was holding on to his arm, lost her balance too. She fell and landed on Daryl. They both laughed for a moment. Dog got the book before Daryl fell and went away with it, so Connie still couldn't see what it was. Daryl moved his head and saw Dog disappearing. When he looked back at Connie he noticed that she looked in Dog's direction and was already making effort to stand up. But Daryl pulled her closer to him and didn't let her get away. Connie looked at Daryl's face and smiled. She knew he was only holding her like that to prevent her from getting to Dog before him, but she liked his touch and stopped struggling against it. They faces came closer to each other and they shared a long passionate kiss.

Daryl's eyes were closed and everything around him disappeared for a moment. All the thoughts about his past and Lydia faded away once again and a light feeling started to fill his body and soul. It was something that Connie's presence did to him so often. When she smiled or laughed, it was almost impossible not to smile too and everything seemed to be brighter. It made him forget for a moment about everything that was bothering him. And when she was so close to him and kissed him, it was like he got sucked up into another dimension, where nothing existed except the two of them. The touch of her soft lips on his and the movement of her tongue made his head spin and he felt like he was floating somewhere, far away from reality. The weight of her body on him and the way her lower stomach was pushing against his lap sent warm, pleasant waves down his spine. He wanted to dive into her, disappear in her. He closed his arms around her, pulling her even closer.

Connie was still curious what Daryl was hiding from her, but the kiss pushed those thoughts away. She loved how Daryl let his feelings take over and became passionate from one moment to the other every time they started kissing. His lips devoured her and let her know how much he craved her. When she felt his arms closing around her back, pressing her closer to him, her heart started to race and her breath became unsteady. The urging feeling in her lower stomach intensified as she felt something hard pressing against her belly. Knowing that Daryl was probably as much aroused as she was, and that she affected him like that made her want him with every fiber of her being

They stopped kissing for a moment and Daryl slowly opened his eyes. His expression went from pleased to embarrassed very quickly as reality got him back. He let go of Connie and she sighed. She didn't want this moment to end, but she could see how he started to feel uncomfortable, so she stood up and helped him to get on his feet too. Daryl could feel how his face was heating up. He looked down on himself and saw the bulge in his pants, which revealed the effect Connie had on him. He murmured a "sorry" while his face was turning redder and redder. He wondered how he could let this happen, outside, where everyone could see them. He looked nervously around, but it was nobody there.  
And what would Connie think of him if she... But when he looked at her, the only thing he could see was the big smile on her lips.


	16. Chapter 16 - Alpha

Connie and Daryl sat down on the steps of Daryl's trailer. Connie could see how Daryl was still nervously glancing around, like he was afraid someone could have watched them making out. She took her notepad and wrote:

So will you tell me what you were hiding from me?

Daryl, who finally assured himself that there was nobody around, took a look on her notepad.

"Who says I was hiding something?" He asked and Connie had to laugh, seeing how he tried to make the most innocent face. Lightly, she smacked his arm with the back of her hand, telling him with her eyes: "Are you serious?"

Daryl smiled.

"Alright, I'll tell you… Soon… Okay?" He said and Connie felt a little disappointed. Daryl must have sensed it. He put an arm around her shoulder and she moved closer to him. It was nice to feel his touch again and she closed her eyes while he was patting her arm and planted a little kiss on her head. She suddenly remembered what she wanted to tell him when she walked up to him.

I'm glad, you let Lydia out, was written on her notepad as she showed it to Daryl. He looked at her note.

"Yeah," he said. "Figured she doesn't belong in a cage. Girl's just messed up"

Connie nodded.

"I still don't know what to do with her, though," he admitted after a pause. "But I kinda get how she feels."

Connie gave him a questioning look, but Daryl didn't see it. Instead he turned his head and Connie realized that something must have caught his attention. He stood up and walked a couple of steps away from the trailer. She followed him. Connie saw some people standing in the distance and Jesus was standing in front of them. She could tell that there was a heated discussion going on.

Daryl had a bad feeling in his gut, when he, followed by Connie, approached the crowd.

A large group of people gathered together and even Lydia was there. Daryl noticed that Kelly was standing next to her, holding her hand.

The crowd seemed to be upset about something, they were all talking at once, and Daryl had a hard time to make out what the fuss was all about. He could only see that they were angry and Jesus tried to calm them down.

"What's going on?" Daryl asked Tara, who was standing there too, with her arms crossed.

"The lookouts we sent out didn't come back," she told him.

Daryl narrowed his eyebrows. He started to catch parts of the conversation.

"My husband was working hard here already," one woman said. "You shouldn't have sent him out."

"He wanted to go," Jesus told her.

"And why is she even here? Isn't she one of them?" Suddenly Tammy Rose said, pointing at Lydia.

"Calm down, Tammy, we don't know that for sure," her husband tried to calm her.

"We don't know what happened to them, they could be back tomorrow," Daryl said, but wasn't believing his own words. People were hardly listening to him anyway. They were still upset.

"If Alpha got them, they're dead," Lydia suddenly said out loud. Everyone became silent, then people started swarming her, asking her out, making accusations and shouting at her. Kelly tried to push them back and Daryl looked helplessly at Jesus, who approached Lydia and made the people take some steps back.

"What are you talking about? Who's Alpha?" He asked her.

"She's their leader. Listen, if she saw your people out there, then they're probably dead. That's just how it is."

"Why didn't you tell us earlier?" Tara asked.

"Because it doesn't make any difference." The words she said were followed by a big uproar and Daryl suddenly felt how his heart started to beat faster in anxiety.

"You can spy on her or try to fight her, but you won't be able to defeat her. If this place is in her way she..."

"That's enough," Daryl cut her off, making his way through the crowd. He saw by the looks on the people's faces how enraged they were and he was afraid they would do something to her, if she continued talking. The words she said made him uneasy too, but in this moment he was more afraid for her.

Lydia misunderstood his action, thinking he took the other people's side and gave him an angry look, before she ran off. Daryl's eyes were searching for Connie and then he saw her not far away with Kelly. They were talking in sign language. People were still enraged and Jesus gave up trying to calm them down. Daryl gave him a sign to follow him away from the crowd.

"I'll go out there. Try to track them, maybe she's wrong and they're still alive," Daryl told him then.

"I hope so," Jesus said. He took a quick look at the group of people behind him. "I'm not sure if any of them would come with you, though, so maybe I should..."

"Nah, it's okay," Daryl said. "The others need you here. And there's no need to drag more people into this mess."

Daryl could tell that Jesus wanted to say something against it, but instead he thanked him.

Daryl nodded and went to Connie and Kelly. The three of them started to search for Lydia and soon they found her, sitting beneath a tree, with her arms around her knees.

Kelly tried to put her arm on Lydia's shoulder, but Lydia withdrew her touch and jumped up, clenching her hands into fists. Then she looked Daryl in the eye.

"I trusted you. You told me, the people here cared about me. But they hate me." A single tear rolled down her cheek

Daryl felt helpless again. He knew that it was him, who talked her into telling people about the danger and now he felt guilty, not knowing what to say.

"Look, I know you wanted to help. But the things you've said... How you said them, made people nervous and..."

"All I did was just telling the truth. If Alpha wants them dead, they're dead."

Daryl was silent, trying hard to think of what to say to her.

"You don't understand, don't you?" Lydia continued. "You have walls, weapons, people. But she… she has them." Lydia pointed towards the gates.

"Them?" Daryl asked, confused.

"The dead are on her side. I told you, it's no use." Lydia went away and this time only Kelly followed her.

Connie and Daryl shared an uncertain look.

What now? Connie wrote.

"I'll go out there. See if I can track them. Maybe they're dead, but maybe they ain't. I hope they ain't." Daryl sighed and Connie nodded.

Let's go, she wrote and after they grabbed their gear they left Hilltop together.

They were tracking for a while and mostly in silence. Connie could see the sad look on Daryl's face and she knew he was blaming himself because of what Lydia said to him before. She felt guilty too.

Seeing the Hilltop residents attacking Lydia made Connie's heart heavy. She should have given her more guidance. She should have been there for her.

As they arrived at the camp where they spotted Lydia's people that one day when she ran away, they could see that it was abandoned. They cautiously approached, but nobody was there, not even walkers.

"They left probably not long ago," Daryl told Connie, inspecting the tracks on the ground.

I feel so bad for her. I don't want to think of what people back home will try to do to her if we don't find them alive.

"Yeah me neither," Daryl murmured.

She must have been through a lot already and now, Connie wrote. Her arms dropped. She was desperate and started to feel more and more depressed every minute. When she looked at Daryl, she could see by his expression that he seemed to be brooding over something. Then he looked up to her.

"Don't worry, it's gonna be alright," he said to her and his hands moved as he tried to sign his words to her. Even though not all signs were correct, Connie was overwhelmed and surprised. Her face lit up a bit.

You've been learning? She wrote. Her hand was shaking a little bit since she was touched by his effort.

"A little," Daryl said, making a sign for "little".

So the thing you were hiding - Connie couldn't finish writing the sentence, she almost started to cry.

"Yeah it was an ASL book," he told her.

But why?

"Just so I can talk to you in your language," he said making the signs for "talk" and "your language".

"And you won't need this" - he pointed to her notepad. "Anymore."

Connie was overwhelmed by her feelings. She wanted to kiss him, as he suddenly turned away.

Daryl was glad that he could cheer Connie up. Even though he was nervous and he knew he messed up some of the signs, she understood him. Daryl wasn't in a good mood himself, but seeing Connie being sad too, almost broke his heart and he felt like he had to do something. Now she was smiling again and wanted to kiss him, but before he could lean in for a kiss, he heard Dog barking and made a sign to Connie to follow him as he ran to Dog. Soon he spotted Dog, who was barking at a group of walkers, and Daryl told him to calm down. It was strange, since Dog knew how to behave around walkers and never barked when they were close. Daryl took his knives out, ready to fight the walkers, but then he stopped himself. The walkers were just standing there and staring at him, motionless. Anxiously he realized that this group of seemingly dead people was pretty much alive. The group suddenly parted letting another "walker" passing through, which had a shotgun in its hands. Daryl and Connie exchanged a look.

"Put your weapons down," the walker spoke in a woman's voice. Daryl didn't want to do that, but when he saw Connie putting down her slingshot, he decided not to risk anything and he let his knives drop to the ground.

"Who are you?" Daryl asked, but the woman didn't answer. A tall man, also looking like a walker, came to her and helped her taking off her mask.

"I'm Alpha", the woman told Daryl. She was bald and there was something feral in her eyes.

"And you must be the people who took my daughter," she continued, talking slowly with a strange accent.

"We didn't take her, she just came with us," Daryl barked at her.

"Either way, I want her back. And in exchange..." She made a sign to her people who disappeared and came back in the next moment with three men, who were bound and gagged.

"...you get your people back." Alpha continued. Connie and Daryl exchanged a look again.

"What if she doesn't want to come back?"

Alpha went to a man and put a knife against his throat, moving her head slowly and looking at him like a predator looks at its prey. Then she turned her head to Daryl.

"Then you better make her," she told him, slashing the men's throat with one quick movement. Daryl was in shock. He first couldn't believe what just happened. Then he was enraged, his hand went instinctively to his crossbow on his back, but Connie put her hand on his and shook her head as he looked at her.

Alpha went to another man and started sniffing at him.

"One gone, two more left," she whispered. "You should better hurry. Get my daughter here, or this one is next."

Connie was still in shock as they arrived back in Hilltop. Daryl went to tell Jesus and Tara about all what happened while she returned to her room. As she opened the door, she saw Kelly and Lydia sitting on the bed and kissing. They moved apart quickly as soon as she entered the room.

Connie gave Lydia a concerned look, then asked Kelly to come with her, because she had something to tell her.

"No, you can't do this." Connie saw the despair in her sister's eyes and felt a sting in her heart. Kelly was frantically signing and also using her voice, while Connie tried to calm her down. Daryl came walking towards them and when Kelly saw Daryl approaching, she gave him an angry look. "I won't let you take her away from me," she told him.

"Listen, I know you're upset, but we don't have a choice. Alpha will kill our people."

"And what will she do to Lydia?" Connie could see how Kelly was close to tears and the next thing she said made Connie feel even worse for Lydia.

"She abused her, I know you know about this too. So how can you send Lydia back to her?"

"Because like I said, we don't have a choice." Daryl put a hand on Kelly's shoulder "I'm sorry."

Kelly shook off his hand. "Yeah, tell that Lydia when you send her back to that monster." She wanted to run away before she saw Lydia, who stood behind them.

"It's okay," she told them. Kelly wanted to disagree, but Lydia went to her put a hand on her arm. "It's really okay, I never thought she would want me to come back. Maybe she changed, maybe she misses me." Lydia seemed to be excited and to truly believe what she said. Daryl averted his eyes

"Alpha said we should hurry," he murmured and Lydia nodded. Kelly gave Connie a last desperate glance, like begging her to stop this. But Connie couldn't. She knew Daryl was right and they didn't have a choice, if they wanted to save their people. Lydia said goodbye to Kelly and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Kelly was crying and all Connie could do, was taking her sister in her arms and try to comfort her.

"You better stay here," Daryl told Connie then and she desperately shook her head as her heart began to race.

"Look, I got this. You should take care of Kelly. I'll be back soon." Connie didn't want to let him go alone, but was unable to hold him back. She was still holding Kelly in her arms as he turned around and started walking towards the gates. Lydia came to Connie and thanked her for everything, before she started following Daryl. Connie was looking at them with an anxious feeling in her heart until they gates closed behind them.


End file.
